Ken Borland

The Imperial Lions were outstanding in the field as they hammered the Titans by 18 runs on the DLS method to win the Gauteng derby and move ever closer to the playoffs in the T20 Challenge at Kingsmead.

The win saw the Lions leapfrog the Titans into second place on the log, with a game in hand.

The rain which interrupted the decent Lions innings in the 17^th over on 124 for four saw the Titans target adjusted to 131 in 15 overs.

But the misfiring Titans top-order were blown away by the superb Lions attack, invariably picking the wrong shot at key times.

The mixture of spin and seam saw the Titans slump to 55 for six in the ninth over and it was only the efforts of the tail – Simon Harmer (17), Junior Dala (21) and Lizaad Williams (11*) – that denied the Lions the crucial bonus point as the Titans closed on 112 for eight.

Left-arm seamer Beuran Hendricks was the pick of the bowlers with an outstanding two for seven in the three overs he was allowed, while spinner Bjorn Fortuin was again brilliant with two for 21.

Kagiso Rabada was typically tough for the batsmen to get away as he took one for 18.

The Titans, by way of contrast, were a bit messy in the field and Lions opener Reeza Hendricks stroked them all over the park in a wonderful 39 off 28 balls.

It gave the Lions a great start and a composed Rassie van der Dussen looked set to give them a big finish, having cruised to a promising 37 not out off 24 balls, when the rain came down.

Harmer (3-0-19-1), Chris Morris (3-0-10-0) and Lungi Ngidi (3-0-19-1) were good with the ball for the Titans, hard to get away, but the rest of the bowlers were expensive.

The Dolphins have all but assured themselves of a place in at least the T20 Challenge playoffs as they beat the Warriors by three runs on the DLS method at Kingsmead on Sunday to post their third successive victory.

The Dolphins were set 144 to win and were 128 for two, needing 16 runs off the last two overs, when their match was rained out, the DLS method deservedly awarding them the win.

And the Dolphins have their opening pair of Sarel Erwee and Keegan Petersen to thank for the triumph.

Erwee batted extremely well in the powerplay, showing good aggression as he posted 52 off 37 balls, including four big leg-side sixes.

The left-hander fell with the Dolphins needing 53 more runs off eight overs, with Petersen then batting through and scoring a well-judged 58 not out off 56 deliveries to secure the victory.

The Warriors did have a couple of opportunities at the end to dismiss Petersen, which would have made the final result an even closer affair.

The Warriors, who won the toss and elected to bat, made it to a competitive 143 for five thanks to a top-class effort of 47 not out off 38 balls by captain Sinethemba Qeshile.

He shared a partnership of 71 off 57 balls for the fourth wicket with Jon-Jon Smuts (29) that gave the Warriors a chance.

It was a fine all-round bowling effort by the Dolphins, with Keshav Maharaj producing a pair of maiden overs as he conceded just 12 runs in his four-over stint and seamer Ottneil Baartman taking two for 31.

With the Bulls now almost certainly out of playoffs contention, coach John Mitchell has the opportunity to work on developing players for next year’s SuperRugby campaign and he has one such future star available in scrumhalf Embrose Papier.

While the 21-year-old has been the Bulls’ third-choice scrumhalf for most of the year behind Ivan van Zyl and Andre Warner, national coach Rassie Erasmus showed how much faith he has in the Clanwilliam product’s talent by fast-tracking him into the Springbok set-up.

For Papier, the challenge is now to stay there and ensure he is on the plane to Japan next year for the World Cup. The more SuperRugby the lightning-quick halfback plays between now and then, the better.

“It would be very nice to go to the World Cup next year, that’s every player’s dream. I had a few chances in SuperRugby this year against New Zealand sides, I could express myself, but you learn a lot in SuperRugby too and hopefully that will help get me there to the World Cup. I learnt a lot in the pre-season with John Mitchell as well.

“I was very motivated to get into the Springbok team but it was still a really good surprise. Playing there has made me even more hungry. I made my debut coming on at wing and coach Sticks [Mzwandile Stick] said I must just use every second. I had a few nice runs against Wales and then it was quite wet against England but I feel that I used my chances,” Papier said.

Papier is also grateful to his Bulls U21 coach David Manuel for helping to hone the kicking game that is such a vital part of any scrumhalf’s armoury these days.

“My dad says I definitely need to work on my kicking game and I guess every player has his things he has to work on. I learnt a lot in my U21 year about when to kick and when to run from coach David. But my speed I’ve had from when I was small, I did athletics at school, I always ran.

“I started playing rugby at primary school at Lambert’s Bay and Darling, the community are big there with rugby and I went from touch rugby. Francois Hougaard and Dan Carter were my heroes growing up. I am short but I’m not small, I gym hard. I’m 80kg now but I don’t want to lose speed so I won’t go over 90kg,” Papier said.

https://citizen.co.za/sport/south-africa-sport/sa-rugby-sport/super-rugby/1970759/young-embrose-papier-has-a-world-cup-dream/

The Lions may have failed to make the SuperRugby playoffs after their dramatic weekend draw against the Stormers, but the Johannesburg-based franchise has certainly earned the respect of all their opponents this season.

Just two years after they were controversially relegated from SuperRugby, the Lions have clinched second place in the South African Conference and boast an almost identical record to the Brumbies, who have snuck into the playoffs ahead of them because of bonus points.

They have maintained their positive style of play with ball in hand, but where they have improved most is defensively, boasting the best tackling success rate in the competition. The Lions play at the highest tempo of all the South African sides as they swarm around in defence and always have great intensity on the ball. Their powerful scrum has provided a solid platform and their lineout has also been efficient.

“It’s all about playing with intensity and hunger, and we have to up our performance every week. There are plans in place, but I also allow the guys to be free spirits and you have to live with the small mistakes that come from that,” coach Johan Ackermann says. “Obviously I’m very proud of the team, it must be one of our best years and it shows that hard work is worth it.”

The Lions have certainly deserved all the praise that has come their way, beating the qualified Waratahs and Highlanders in the last five weeks and showing all season that they are never out of the contest with some superb second-half comebacks.

“There’s great belief within this side, a real hunger. We want to close down the opposition’s space and put them under pressure. We’ve built our physicality in defence, we want to be in their faces and not stand back,” captain Warren Whiteley says.

Their impressive performances have seen several of their players grow into Springbok contenders. The most likely Lions player to feature in Heyneke Meyer’s Springbok World Cup squad is flyhalf Elton Jantjies, who dares to take the ball flat and attack the opposition line, has superb hands and is a strong defender, as well as kicking well this season.

Eighthman Whiteley is competing with Duane Vermeulen and Schalk Burger for a place at the World Cup, but he gets through a mound of work and is the only player in SuperRugby this year to have made more than 200 tackles, while also being highly effective in a linking role, possessing great skill and vision as befits a Springbok Sevens player who helped win the Commonwealth Games gold medal last year.

He is also adept at interfering with the opposition lineout, where Franco Mostert has also been a key performer for the Lions, as well as in the loose.

Warwick Tecklenburg has been outstanding in doing all the Lions’ dirty work, being second only to Whiteley in terms of tackles made, but fellow flank Jaco Kriel has been the most impressive forward.

A constant nuisance at the breakdown, he oozes raw talent in offence, having phenomenal pace, strength and hands, and has more often than not been able to spark the most sensational counter-attacks by the Lions.

Harold Vorster and Lionel Mapoe have proved to be two powerful centres, while scrumhalf Faf de Klerk and wing Ruan Combrinck are two other backs who have announced themselves as future Springboks this year.

Despite their success over the last two years, Ackermann says at the moment they are just playing pretty rugby and haven’t won anything yet, there is more growing to do.

“We can look back on a good season regardless of missing the playoffs. The players know where they stand with me and they know my expectation on deserving the jersey. As long as they do that, I can’t ask for more. The growth from last year is definitely there, but there is still a lot of work to do.

“Nobody has achieved anything yet. We are not in the playoffs, we haven’t won the Currie Cup yet, we haven’t won any trophies yet. But if you ask me if there is a lot of growth, both for me as coach and for the team, then definitely if you look where we started in January 2014 until where we are now,” Ackermann says.