Slick Lions maul Province
22 Oct 2011
SIMON BORCHARDT watched the Golden Lions beat Western Province 29-20 at Ellis Park to secure a home final against the Sharks next Saturday.
WP came into this game as favourites. They had five World Cup Springboks in their starting XV compared to the Lions’ one. This was their third consecutive appearance in the Currie Cup play-offs, while the Lions had not reached this stage since 2008.
Yet it was the young Lions side that played like experienced veterans, scoring two unanswered tries to reach their first final since 2007. WP looked disinterested for the first hour and by the time they woke up, the game was long gone.
Elton Jantjies was successful with all seven of his kicks at goal, which forced Province to play catch-up throughout. The Lions were the more threatening side on attack and were solid on defence, especially in the second half when they had just 40% of the ball (compared to 60% in the first half). Derick Minnie produced a big performance at the breakdown, while Franco van der Merwe impressed with ball in hand.
The Lions deservedly led 19-12 at the break, after Jantjies and Demetri Catrakilis each kicked four penalties, and Jaco Taute scored a try on the 35-minute mark after an inside pass from Deon van Rensburg.
WP weren’t helped by injuries to Siya Kolisi, whose head collided with Jantjies’ elbow during an attempted tackle, and Bryan Habana, who was replaced on the half-hour mark by Juan de Jongh (he went to centre with Jean de Villiers moving to the wing). However, the Province scrum did improve when Frans Malherbe came on at tighthead prop with Brok Harris moving to loosehead.
The Lions extended their lead to 14 early in the second half when a poor pass from Nicholas Groom was intercepted by Michael Killian, and the left wing went over in the corner. That prompted the surprise return of Habana, who until then had been sitting on the bench as if his match was over.
Catrakilis and Jantjies exchanged penalties to make it 29-15 going into the final quarter, as WP began to dominate possession and territory. They came close to scoring when Schalk Burger offloaded in the tackle to Harris, who was stopped inches short of the tryline. The Lions tackled courageously during this period but a double-skip pass from Burger eventually put De Jongh over with 10 minutes remaining.
Catrakilis, though, missed the crucial conversion that would have brought his side back to within striking range, and the Lions finished the match inside the WP half.
507 Comments
Pages: « 1 2 [3] 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 » Show All
22 Oct 2011, 18:29 pm
Go Lions you truly deserve this!
22 Oct 2011, 18:30 pm
Lions defence is impressive… WP needs to score now if they want to win this game!
22 Oct 2011, 18:30 pm
Even with 2 converted tries and a draw, the Lions take this.
22 Oct 2011, 18:31 pm
It’s not over yet.
22 Oct 2011, 18:31 pm
At effing last!
22 Oct 2011, 18:31 pm
@Dawn(Dawn)-97: I think that’s Samwise Gamjee.
22 Oct 2011, 18:31 pm
huge pass Schalk, De jongh try
22 Oct 2011, 18:32 pm
the Greek chap missed
22 Oct 2011, 18:32 pm
I would rather have JdJ on my side that Habana, and that was co of the skulkanator.
22 Oct 2011, 18:32 pm
Demitri has cracked!!
22 Oct 2011, 18:33 pm
@David(David)-98:
I’ve seen far better WP teams losing at Ellis Park
It called ‘Altitude’
22 Oct 2011, 18:33 pm
The miss doesn’t matter, it’s only 2 points and we need a goal and penalty to win.
22 Oct 2011, 18:33 pm
@EthnicTurd.(EthnicTurd.)-90:
Well then you’ve certainly cornered the market when it comes to stupid comments.
22 Oct 2011, 18:33 pm
GAME OVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
22 Oct 2011, 18:33 pm
Potato crisp anyone?
22 Oct 2011, 18:34 pm
@Hondo(Hondo)-111:
Not for the first 50 minutes.
22 Oct 2011, 18:34 pm
Havent a clue what that penalty is for, very frustrating
22 Oct 2011, 18:34 pm
Why was Jantjies subbed??
22 Oct 2011, 18:35 pm
Samwise Gamjee!!!!????
OK then. I want him for next Bok coach.
22 Oct 2011, 18:35 pm
butch is kak
22 Oct 2011, 18:35 pm
@Treehugger(Treehugger)-100:
And I am asked to believe and accept that you are the finest psychologist, without the required qualifications, to delve into the seeming matters of the human mind?
Waste your time elsewhere for it is wasted on me.
22 Oct 2011, 18:36 pm
Last 10 minutes are the killer for any visiting team at Ellis Park
22 Oct 2011, 18:36 pm
lol, the old master hugh ‘ill have another’ bladen correcting brosniham, ‘there still a little bit of time warren”…
22 Oct 2011, 18:37 pm
@ET.(ET.)-121: Shut it, you irrelevant ****.
22 Oct 2011, 18:37 pm
@David(David)-116:
No
22 Oct 2011, 18:38 pm
Think the gun runner and IT billionaire are kicking themselves right now.
22 Oct 2011, 18:38 pm
@Hondo(Hondo)-122: wp look up for it though
22 Oct 2011, 18:39 pm
Jantjies for Man of the Match!
22 Oct 2011, 18:39 pm
Nick Groom cost Wp the game idiot!!!!!!1st half turnover ball kicks it down to Lions and Taute scores,2nd half intercept try passes the ball straight to Killian……….
22 Oct 2011, 18:39 pm
Samwise Gamjee is the power behind the throne.
22 Oct 2011, 18:39 pm
Laurel and Hardy in the WP coaching box look a little vexed.
22 Oct 2011, 18:40 pm
Jantjies looks fitter than earlier in the year
22 Oct 2011, 18:40 pm
Cheesy Football ?
22 Oct 2011, 18:41 pm
Burger is an idiot.
22 Oct 2011, 18:41 pm
WP done and dusted.
22 Oct 2011, 18:41 pm
“no tickle contest”?!?! LOL – yoh he can only talk the kak.
22 Oct 2011, 18:42 pm
@theOracle(theOracle)-135: yeah, they’re done, stick a fork in ‘em
22 Oct 2011, 18:42 pm
Rhodes is a tough bugger!
22 Oct 2011, 18:42 pm
Katman what was that word?
22 Oct 2011, 18:43 pm
Burger great Player but not a CAPTAIN!!!!!!
22 Oct 2011, 18:43 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-127:
must be a missed calc!
I fell short by one point with the bookie, damn Schalk
22 Oct 2011, 18:43 pm
seems first time ellis has had a decent atmopshere for a lions game in years.
probably more exciting than the RWC final tomoro.
22 Oct 2011, 18:43 pm
The hobbit looks happy.
22 Oct 2011, 18:44 pm
Well done Lions. You were the better team on the day.
@>^..^< katman(katman)-131:
Enjoy the win,boet. And just beat the Sharks next week. That’ll shut them up.
22 Oct 2011, 18:45 pm
Samwise gamjee made all the difference in this Lions team.
22 Oct 2011, 18:45 pm
@Dawn(Dawn)-139: Arsehole. He’s a blooming arsehole.
22 Oct 2011, 18:45 pm
Well done Sharks and Lions. The two top teams and both deserve to be there. A great final at Ellis Park in the making.
Good luck and well done to their supporters.
22 Oct 2011, 18:45 pm
The era in which burger, de villiers, fourie and habana have played for province have come and gone without any real silverware. Sad, very sad!!!
22 Oct 2011, 18:45 pm
@Dawn(Dawn)-139:
He said it, we think it…!!
22 Oct 2011, 18:46 pm
WTF was Butch doing?
Pages: « 1 2 [3] 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 » Show All
Have your say
You must be logged in to post a comment.