Ken Borland

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.

The return of Jeandre Rudolph to the Cheetahs team turned around their Currie Cup fortunes in midweek and the loose forward was here, there and everywhere in their victory over Western Province in Bloemfontein, causing the Sharks to effectively pick two openside flanks for when they travel to meet the Free Staters on Saturday.

The 100kg Rudolph gave a glorious display of chasing after the ball, he was plucky in defence and carried the ball with authority as well, confirming earlier impressions that he is one of the Cheetahs’ stars. His ability to strangle teams at the breakdown and the effective partnership he forms with Junior Pokomela and Aidon Davis marks him out as a key man for the Sharks to contend with.

And the Sharks responded on Thursday by naming both Dylan Richardson and James Venter in their starting loose trio.

“We’re fortunate to have two guys who can fetch and they are both in world-class form at the moment, they both did exceptionally well against the British and Irish Lions. They’re both very good ball-carriers and have a very high work-rate, so we decided to experiment a bit with Henco Venter out with concussion and Thembelani Bholi and Celimpilo Gumede needing to cover lock.

“The Cheetahs are playing better now that they have some players back from injury and Jeandre Rudolph had a massive game against Western Province. You never go to Bloemfontein and get easy points, I asked the guys how many of them had won against Free State in Bloemfontein before and not many of them had, and none of them more than once,” coach Sean Everitt said on Thursday.

Everitt said his young Sharks team had learnt a lot in their two matches against the British and Irish Lions and he hoped this would result in increased maturity, leading to his team playing like full-grown adults in the Currie Cup and not the kids many of them are in terms of age.

“We’ve created a great vibe in the camp by giving everyone an opportunity against the Lions and we now need to build on that experience we gained and take it into this weekend. We want to play at high intensity for 80 minutes. We need to put in a performance similar to the one in the first half of the second game against the Lions, because the Cheetahs are desperate to win the Currie Cup and they have a point to prove.

“We’ve had two weeks rest, although one of those weeks was pretty tough mentally with food shortages, but the focus now is on ourselves and our intensity going forward. We have seven Currie Cup games left – this one against the Cheetahs and then the second round of six matches – and hopefully from now on there will be no more disruptions,” Everitt said.

Sharks – Anthony Volmink, Marnus Potgieter, Werner Kok, Marius Louw, Thaakir Abrahams, Curwin Bosch, Grant Williams, Phepsi Buthelezi (c), Dylan Richardson, James Venter, Reniel Hugo, Le Roux Roets, Khutha Mchunu, Kerron van Vuuren, Ntuthuko Mchunu. Bench: Dan Jooste, Mzamo Majola, Lourens Adriaanse, Thembelani Bholi, Celimpilo Gumede, Cameron Wright, Lionel Cronje, Jeremy Ward.

Jack-in-the-box hooker Johan Grobbelaar won his second successive man of the match award as he spearheaded the Bulls’ 34-13 win over Western Province in their Currie Cup match at Newlands on Friday night.

Grobbelaar scored a fine individual try in the first half as the Bulls took the lead for the first time after 14 minutes and just generally popped up everywhere – excellent lineout throwing, winning turnovers, linking with his backs and defending stoutly.

The in-form 23-year-old’s try was accompanied by touchdowns by left wing Richard Kriel, scrumhalf Zak Burger and right wing Cornal Hendricks, as the Bulls were able to celebrate a bonus point win that takes them to the top of the log, where they will stay if the Sharks don’t beat Griquas in Durban on Saturday.

While the Bulls were slick in executing their skills, Western Province certainly pitched up for the game, but a red card to hooker Scarra Ntubeni in the 36^th minute was too high an obstacle for them to get over. At that stage the hosts were only 13-17 down and had been highly competitive as they pushed the Bulls with aggressive defence, strong breakdown work and some excellent play with ball in hand.

Ntubeni was a little high on his tackle on Burger, but there was certainly no intent to target the head, the scrumhalf dipping down as he was tackled from behind and Ntubeni making contact with his neck. There were many who felt a yellow card would have been appropriate.

Western Province’s thoroughly workmanlike display in the first half and some entertaining rugby from the Bulls had made for intriguing rugby; sadly, the second half was to become a rather dull affair as the visitors dominated but could only add two more tries to their tally.

Western Province had put their cards on the table right from the start as, in the first minute, flyhalf Tim Swiel put Johan du Toit into a hole and the flank burst through on an impressive run, before passing inside for scrumhalf Paul de Wet to score.

The Bulls quickly rustled up a response though, courtesy of one of several clever variations they had at the lineout. A high tackle gave them a penalty which they kicked into the WP 22. Grobbelaar threw long, over the back of the lineout to flyhalf Johan Goosen, who made plenty of ground over the advantage line. He was then quickly back up on his feet to get the ball from the next ruck, throwing a long pass out wide to wing Kriel, who had acres of space to go over for the try.

Ironically, Grobbelaar scored his own try 10 minutes later when Western Province had a lineout throw go astray over the back, and the Paarl Gim product brilliantly gathered the ball and knifed through the defence to score.

Playing against 14 men in the second half, the Bulls made a bit of a meal of ramming home their advantage, but credit must go to Western Province for the staunch resistance they put up.

The bonus point try came with just five minutes remaining as replacement scrumhalf Keagan Johannes tried a cross kick that went horribly wrong. But outside centre Lionel Mapoe quickly tidied up and turned it into a great attacking opportunity, freeing up Hendricks on the wing, with the Springbok throwing the dummy and then showing plenty of pace to finish the try.

Scorers

Western Province: Try – Paul de Wet. Conversion – Tim Swiel. Penalties – Swiel (2).

Bulls: Tries – Richard Kriel, Johan Grobbelaar, Zak Burger, Cornal Hendricks. Conversions – Johan Goosen (3), Chris Smith. Penalties – Goosen (2).

Western Province were grateful for the services of an ace goalkicker in Tim Swiel as they edged out the Sharks 32-31 in their Currie Cup match in Cape Town on Wednesday evening, the flyhalf succeeding with all eight of his kicks at goal.

Western Province were outscored four tries to two by the Sharks, but Swiel’s man-of-the-match display ensured they were in the lead for almost the whole game. The Sharks led twice, taking a 21-19 lead into halftime after a sensational run by wing Thaakir Abrahams from his own 22 set up scrumhalf Jaden Hendrikse for his second try; and then flyhalf Curwin Bosch kicked an easy ruck penalty to put them 31-29 up with just four minutes remaining.

But as happened so often in the game, the Sharks messed up the restart, being penalised for hands in the ruck, and Swiel nailed the kick to make the final score 32-31.

But the hardworking flank Thembelani Bholi won a turnover penalty in the final minute, only for Bosch to kick the ball dead, Western Province then stealing the lineout throw to notch their first win at Cape Town Stadium.

Western Province fullback Sergeal Petersen had an elegant response to the halftime deficit as he cut the line soon after the restart and then passed to powerhouse eighthman Evan Roos, who muscled over the tryline with only scrumhalf Hendrikse fighting a lone and futile battle to try and bring him down.

It was yet another moment of sloppiness by a Sharks side who played some beautiful rugby, but were beaten by a team that simply made fewer mistakes.

Not even dominating the lineouts and scrums could win the game for the visitors, who dominated territory and possession. That allowed them plenty of opportunities to maul from the lineout, from which three of their tries came, but Western Province’s new-look side proved their character by winning against the run of play.

Scorers

Western Province: Tries – Paul de Wet, Evan Roos. Conversions – Tim Swiel (2). Penalties – Swiel (6).

Sharks: Tries – Thembelani Bholi, Jaden Hendrikse (2), Fez Mbatha. Conversions – Curwin Bosch (4). Penalty – Bosch.