Ken Borland

Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen admitted after another chastening defeat against the Sharks at the weekend that the franchise is going to have to get some reinforcements to ensure they are competitive in the United Rugby Championship that is set to start next month.

The Lions bowed out of the Currie Cup at Ellis Park with a dismal 14-56 hiding at the hands of the Sharks, which has condemned them to last place on the log. Having won just two of the nine matches they took the field for, concerns have been expressed over whether the Lions are going to be slaughtered by the even tougher European sides.

“The most logical thing will be to pull players from elsewhere and there are discussions about that going on. There is an opportunity for the company to get some additional hands in the squad. We are understaffed so we have to do it and there is a lot of work going on behind the scenes,” Van Rooyen said.

It is, however, looking likely that Van Rooyen will no longer be at the helm of the side for the URC with the Lions administration openly talking about “restructuring”. Van Rooyen’s contract, and that of his assistant coaches, ends in October and last place in the Currie Cup is not a good look for someone trying to get a renewal.

While there has been speculation that CEO Rudolf Straeuli, a former Springbok coach, will take over the coaching reins, weekend reports suggested that former Springboks Victor Matfield and Jaque Fourie, a Lions legend, are also being looked at as potential replacement coaches.

The counter-attacking pace of the Sharks team proved to be their pivotal weapon as wing Thaakir Abrahams scored a hat-trick, fullback Anthony Volmink a brace and both their scrumhalves caused huge problems as they demolished the rudderless Lions 56-14 in their Currie Cup match at Ellis Park on Saturday.

It took the Lions an hour to get on the scoreboard, by which time the Sharks had already gathered the try-scoring bonus point and a 35-0 lead. Flank Emmanuel Tshituka forcing his way over from close range came after the Lions had wasted half-a-dozen other opportunities five metres from the tryline. Their ill-discipline and lack of technique at the breakdown cost them dearly.

The Sharks themselves took 19 minutes to post their first points, mostly because they were buckled in the first three scrums by the Lions. But the home team failed to turn the attacking chances provided by those penalties into any points.

Instead, it was the Sharks who grabbed the first try, scrumhalf Grant Williams making the first of many breaks and centre Marius Louw then running a fine angle against the grain to score. It was one-way traffic thereafter.

Abrahams cruised over for his first try in the 23^rd minute after a phenomenal back-flip pass across the field by flyhalf Lionel Cronje, and eighthman Phepsi Buthelezi and Volmink dotted down too as the Sharks grabbed the bonus point before halftime.

Five minutes into the second half, after the Lions maul had won a couple of penalties, Tshituka was ruled to have been short of the tryline, which Gauteng supporters may well have a bit of a tiff with the official about, especially since the Sharks went from their own line all the way to score on the same phase. Louw grabbed the ball at the ruck and broke straight downfield, loose forwards Jeandre Labuschagne and Buthelezi supporting the breakaway before Volmink then fed Abrahams, who beat the defence with a beautiful inside-and-out to score his second try.

Tshituka was eventually the next player to score, but the Sharks continued to fill their boots as replacement scrumhalf Sanele Nohamba showed great pace too to score from 45 metres out and Abrahams and Volmink both scored again to complete the rout.

The Lions could use the fatigue caused by playing five matches in 15 days as an excuse for their failure to cope with the tempo of the game, but in terms of skills and technique, they look ill-equipped to handle their next venture, which will be the daunting United Rugby Championship in Europe.

Scorers
Sharks: Tries – Marius Louw, Thaakir Abrahams (3), Phepsi Buthelezi, Anthony Volmink (2), Sanele Nohamba. Conversions – Lionel Cronje (5), Boeta Chamberlain (3).
Lions: Tries – Emmanuel Tshituka, Jaco Visagie. Conversions – Jordan Hendrikse (2).

Phepsi Buthelezi will return as captain for the Sharks in their Currie Cup rugby match against the Lions at Ellis Park on Saturday and he said a meeting with one of the leading referees had clarified for the squad that they have to improve their discipline and be better advertisers for a freeflowing game.

The Sharks will be looking to maintain their grip on second place against the last-placed Lions, following their victory over the Free State Cheetahs in Durban last weekend. But although the Cheetahs played with 14 men for most of the second half due to a red card, the Sharks kept them in the game with their own rampant ill-discipline, conceding far too many penalties and two yellow cards of their own in the tense closing stages.

That has to change, according to Buthelezi.

“We had Stuart Berry, who refereed our match against the Cheetahs, come chat to us and give us feedback. He told us that the way they are refereeing is to promote running rugby, which will be good for the product when people come back to stadiums. So that puts the defending team under the pump, but the biggest thing is our discipline, we can’t get sucked into silly errors.

“That just gave the Cheetahs life last weekend. So our main focus this week has been on keeping the number of penalties lower, that’s been a huge problem for us. It’s definitely a massive issue, something we’re constantly working on. We can’t afford to give away so many penalties, that made it hard for ourselves. The discipline issue is massive,” Buthelezi stressed.

Along with the in-form eighthman, halfbacks Grant Williams and Lionel Cronje, who played so well in the win over the Bulls two weeks ago, return to the starting line-up. Workhorse lock Le Roux Roets is going to take a break, allowing Gerbrandt Grobler to come in for his debut and Sharks coach Sean Everitt has rotated his hookers, with Dan Jooste starting and Kerron van Vuuren on the bench.

Although the Lions are out of contention for the semifinals, Buthelezi knows his team are going to have to put in a big effort to maintain their challenge for home-ground advantage in the playoffs.

“The Lions are obviously going to be desperate, they are a quality team who have just been unfortunate in terms of results, things just haven’t gone their way. We’re expecting them to have some main players back and they’ve been kicking a lot less lately, so that means lots of running and tackles. We are going to need to execute our game-plan, especially on attack, to put them under pressure,” Buthelezi said.

Sharks team – Anthony Volmink, Yaw Penxe, Jeremy Ward, Marius Louw, Thaakir Abrahams, Lionel Cronje, Grant Williams, Phepsi Buthelezi (c), Henco Venter, Dylan Richardson, Emile van Heerden, Gerbrandt Grobler, Lourens Adriaanse, Dan Jooste, Khwezi Mona. Bench: Kerron van Vuuren, Ntuthuko Mchunu, Wiehahn Herbst, Thembelani Bholi, Jeandre Labuschagne, Sanele Nohamba, Boeta Chamberlain, Murray Koster.

The Lions’ adventure in the 2021 Currie Cup is almost certainly going to come to an end at the weekend after they were beaten 35-13 by Western Province at Newlands on Wednesday night.

The defeat leaves the Lions last in the log, four points off fourth place and with just one match remaining, against the second-placed Sharks. The teams above them on the log all have two games left to play.

Wet and blustery conditions in Cape Town made it difficult for either side to play with too much ambition, but both teams were guilty of several lapses on concentration that led to unforced errors.

Western Province led 16-13 at halftime and then played with the wind at their backs in the second half, but as befits a side struggling to make the semi-finals, they were never able to stamp control on the game, due to soft mistakes, especially when it came to receiving the restarts.

Wide-ranging eighthman Evan Roos scored two tries in the second half to settle the outcome in favour of Western Province.

Nelspruit was the place to be for adventurous rugby on Wednesday as the Bulls saw off the Pumas 33-26 in a thrilling game.

It was transparent in the first quarter that the Pumas were going to put up stiff resistance against the defending champons as they played with attacking ambition and tore into the breakdowns, leading 10-0 after the first quarter.

The Bulls fought back to 14-16 at halftime, but it almost seemed like it was not going to be their day as they started the second half hard on attack, only for wing Stravino Jacobs to let the ball slip through his hands with a one-on-one seven metres from the Pumas line, allowing opposite number Sebastian de Klerk to sprint away for a 90-metre try. The 14-point swing saw the Pumas leading 23-14.

The Pumas were strong on passion, efficiency and positivity, but they were as thin as chiffon in the set-pieces and that is what ultimately cost them the game. Outstanding Bulls tighthead Mornay Smith earned penalties at the scrum that relieved the pressure for the Bulls and led to a penalty try in the 66^th minute to level the scores at 26-26. He also won the turnover that led to substitute hooker Jan-Hendrik Wessels’ rolling maul try six minutes earlier, and Smith then scored the matchwinning try with eight minutes remaining.

The Bulls also won some crucial lineouts against the throw, mostly through Janko Swanepoel.

*In Bloemfontein, the Free State Cheetahs ensured they are still hanging on tenaciously to some hope of making the semifinals as they came from 32-19 down heading into the final quarter to beat Griquas 33-32 with a crucial bonus point.

Prop Conraad van Vuuren, toeing ahead a loose ball and diving on it, and flank Junior Pokomela scored the crucial last two tries for the Cheetahs, with Ruan Pienaar, who shifted to flyhalf, kicking two clutch conversions for the win.