Six moments that mattered
29 Oct 2011
SIMON BORCHARDT reflects on the key moments of the Currie Cup final.
TAUTE’S LONG-RANGE PENALTY
Jaco Taute was knocking over kicks from 60m before the game so it wasn’t a surprise when he stepped up in the fifth minute to nail a 57m penalty that gave the Lions a 6-0 lead.
SHARKS’ LOST LINEOUT
The Sharks took the ball through 15 phases at the end of the first quarter, won a penalty inside the Lions 22 and kicked for the corner to set up a 5m lineout. But Bismarck du Plessis failed to find his jumpers and the hosts were able to relieve the pressure.
LA GRANGE’S BREAK
Doppies la Grange burst through the Sharks’ suspect midfield and sent Michael Killian away for a try that gave the Lions a 19-3 lead after 25 minutes.
WHITELEY’S STEAL
With CJ van der Linde having been yellow carded for stupidly dumping Keegan Daniel at a ruck, the Sharks launched an attack against 14 men in the last play of the first half. A try looked inevitable but Warren Whiteley (a blood replacement for Joshua Strauss) made a critical steal for his side.
LIONS KEEP THEIR COOL
The Sharks had scored a controversial try through Willem Alberts when the flanker had clearly knocked on, which cut the Lions’ lead to eight with half an hour remaining. It was vital that the hosts didn’t let the officials’ blunder get to them and they didn’t with Pat Cilliers being driven over for a try six minutes later.
TAUTE RUBS IT IN
Elton Jantjies’ superb boot had given the Lions an unassailable 35-16 lead, but Killian ensured that this would be a real thrashing when he broke through the Sharks defence and passed to Taute, who dived over in the left corner and then savoured the adulation of the crowd.
23 Comments
29 Oct 2011, 19:39 pm
Lions or dragons?
29 Oct 2011, 23:11 pm
Well I guess it’s an open secret that The Sharks need a proper midfield coach…
Sean Everitt……We need you buddy…….
30 Oct 2011, 00:07 am
well done Lions
Kudos to John Mitchell
Fantastic game of rugby
30 Oct 2011, 05:24 am
Don’t forget the moment in the first few minutes when the Sharks passed the ball out to the wing, and CJ van der Linde was playing defense for the Lions. He tackles the Sharks winger (Peterson, I think) from BEHIND. What a moment! I knew it was the Lions day.
30 Oct 2011, 07:21 am
Lions played very well as a team. Attacked hard when they had the ball, and defended hard when they where on the back foot.
Sharks team did not play smart rugby, and their backline is awfull.
30 Oct 2011, 07:22 am
Hoffman was the worst player on the field.
30 Oct 2011, 07:24 am
We can now argue that the Lions in the last 10 years are better than WP.
They have won one more cup.
30 Oct 2011, 07:41 am
No knock-on Simon- the ball came off Strauss’s hand.
30 Oct 2011, 09:48 am
Well the secret is out, again. Sharks lack 12 and 13. I hear that our bright new hope is the Under 21 number 12, who incidentally got another one ripped yesterday with poor defence in the U21 loss.
Bashford, with or without decent centres, is no backline coach.
Hoffman is miles too slow for super rugby, is passing is sloppy and slow and he gets to the turnover half an hour late.
Keegan is no Captain, not in a million years. A big heart for sure, and a nice kid, but there is no way I would go to war for him, we need a general, someone who leads on and off the field – yes kid Durban is small and we know what you get up to.
Make the young Lambie Captain, he has all the smarts and imagine him in 10 years, unbelievable.
Sorry my boys, you lost it upstairs, 42 points is a thrashing in any one’s books.
30 Oct 2011, 10:27 am
The best moment of the match involved Taute ….. when he lined up for that 57m penalty kick he placed his gum guard in his socks!
for extra ooooomph.
it is true.
“When brave Willem Alberts was penalised in the Golden Lions half, Jaco Taute put his gumshield in his sock and goaled from 57 metres. 6-0 after four minutes.”
30 Oct 2011, 12:19 pm
@goyougoodthing2(goyougoodthing2)-9: Agree. Keegan is a great player but really not a captain. I too would be brave if I was the coach and make Lambie our Sharks Captain. There is no doubt he has leadership qualities in him. Would also start him always at fh.
Also don’t rate Hoffman. Said during the week we should have started with Lambie at fh with Freddie at sh. Odwa would have been solid at fb. Also thought it was a mistake to leave Botes out totally.
If we don’t sort out our centres we will struggle again this SuperRugby. That has been our weakness for a very long time now.
Anyhow Lions were on a mission and think they would have beaten us with whoever we started with. Well done to the Lions they are deserved winners of this years CC.
30 Oct 2011, 13:02 pm
One of the best things to emerge from yesterday’s game was Willem Alberts’s performance in a losing side. He was brutal. He does things with ball in hand that Spies and Kankowski can’t even imagine. Surely he is a must for the Boks, at 7 or 8.
30 Oct 2011, 13:49 pm
@YankinNJUSA(YankinNJUSA)-4:
CJ’s move to the Lions was crucial for his career. Since Os retired he has lost that hunger and desire that made him good back in 2007. Mitchell seems to get that out of his players. Everyone tries a little harder, is that half a second quicker on a loose ball and they ALL show guts.
Something these Springboks could learn from. This Lions team thumped half the Springboks when they were playing in WP jerseys and a week later the other half when playing in Sharks jerseys… shows you how off the pace some of the Boks really are.
30 Oct 2011, 14:27 pm
looks like the shorks choked.
30 Oct 2011, 14:32 pm
@poppa69(poppa69)-14: No choke. Planning. Lions planned this well. Fed the guppies some hot air from their asses two weeks ago. Guppies and fans (read some of the threads this past week) thought they just have to pitch. Then got schooled by some farken awesome rugga.
30 Oct 2011, 14:53 pm
Surely this result confirms what a lot of us have long believed.
We have enormous talent, sadly nullified by awful, one-dimensional coaches.
Well done, John Mitchell. At least three shoo-in Boks in that Lions side of so-called no namers.
Elton Jantjies is the next Bok fly-half…and now. A consumate performance, delivered under pressure; a fitting end to a stellar season for the young man. He kicks like Steyn, but has a rugby brain Morne can but dream of. Then there’s Taute, by far the best full-back in the nation. Pat Cillier was enormous. And hey, Josh Strauss must be knocking on the door, along with Michael Rhodes.
So much for the Lions stumbling when the Boks returned. Sent a Bok-laden Province packing, humiliated a Bok top-heavy Sharks.
Take a bow, John Mitchell.
God, how I wish you’d take over the coaching of the Boks!!!!!
30 Oct 2011, 15:35 pm
@Joe Maher(Joe Maher)-16: GREAT POST!
30 Oct 2011, 19:07 pm
LIONS LIONS LIONS LIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Where are all the “experts” now, who said before the semi’s that the Lions were only looking good because the springboks werent playing? Well what is your excuses now?
30 Oct 2011, 19:23 pm
There was only one crucial moment. It is not always the act, but rather what it reveals. Earlier this year in the S15, for example, when the Stormers were playing the Reds at Newlands, the Stormers players were laughing and joking among themselves, before the kick-off… As they were waiting for the kick-off. They didn’t loose the game because they were laughing, they lost the game because of their mindset, a mindset betrayed by their laughing and joking.
Point is, in the 22nd minute kankowski, the number 8, renowned for his attacking ability, got the ball in midfield, and what did he do? That’s right, he kicked an up-and-under. That kick didn’t cost them the match, but the mentality that it betrayed cost them the match.
That, in essence, was the only relevant moment in the match.
31 Oct 2011, 06:51 am
@julz(julz)-8: how come every person and player on the field thought it was a knock on. even the sharks players stopped. come on julz….
31 Oct 2011, 07:20 am
@kyer(kyer)-20: Watch a replay as shown on All out Rugby last night and you will see clearly the ball being knocked back by Josh Strauss. The try was legit!!
31 Oct 2011, 08:32 am
@Stiff-arm(Stiff-arm)-19: Yeah and how about the kick from Bismark ?? I cannot recall him EVER kicking the ball……
Fantastic win by the Lions and thoroughly deserved, kudos to the entire Lions set-up, players, management, the lot……
Let’s just not get carried away…..some posts on here saying Elton, Taute, Strauss, Minnie and others must now automatically become Boks. One brilliant game does not a Springbok make. Alberts and Bissie didn’t become K@k players on Saturday….they were just outplayed by a thoroughly committed Lions TEAM effort. Agree that some of these (Lions) players need to be given opportunities but let’s see them carry this brand of winning rugby into the S15….
England are here for three Tests in June 2012…..let’s hope these guys can keep the momentum going and, together with all of the other young talent in the other provinces, we should have an awesome Bok side. provided of course, that the selector(s) don’t keep on doing the same thing (poor, sentimental selections) and expecting a different result !!!!
Well done Lions !!
31 Oct 2011, 08:38 am
key for Bok rugby is going to be the selection of the Head Coach…..
absolute key…..
Have your say
You must be logged in to post a comment.