Lions surge into Currie Cup final with a victory over Cheetahs
The Lions advanced to their first Currie Cup final since 2019 but they were dragged into a fur-flying cat fight by the always game Cheetahs at Ellis Park on Saturday.
The Lions prevailed 43-34 but they needed to throw their heavy artillery at the feisty Cheetahs who made the running for much of the game.
It was a match that might as well have taken place in an amusement park, or under a big top. It had all manner of twists and turns, ups matching downs, soft candyfloss interludes but there thankfully were also moments of real substance.
The helter skelter nature of the match was reflected on a scoreboard that seesawed wildly.
Ultimately the Lions with a healthy proportion of their United Rugby Championship contingent on duty again made that experience count when it mattered.
Tighthead Asenathi Ntlabakanye was a colossus, flank Ruan Venter brought a hard edge to the collisions, loose forward JC Pretorius gave the Lions another gear when he stepped off the bench, while scrumhalf Nico Steyn adroitly directed operations from behind a pack that didn't always have things their own way.
The late tries by substitutes Nohamba and Morne Brandon perhaps best illustrated the high amusement value on offer as the Lions broke the back of the Cheetahs as the shadows lengthened over Doornfontein.
The visitors will have much to lament. Errant goal kicking cost the Cheetahs and served to undermine the good work performed elsewhere, especially by Carl Wegner and Oupa Mohoje who turned back the clock.
The Cheetahs were more fleet-footed and assured in possession but perhaps more tellingly they knew exactly what to do when the Lions had the ball.
Their maul defence was from the top drawer and helped keep them in the fight.
The Lions struggled to build continuity in the face of stout Cheetahs' defence in the first 20 minutes. The visitors contested tooth and nail for every morsel of possession and the Lions initially lived off scraps.
The visitors also applied the heat in the line-out often thwarting the Lions' attacking ambition. For sheer nuisance factor however few rival Jeandre Rudolph.
To his teammates he is a tireless beast who makes the wheels turn, to the opposition he is a still flapping plump fly in the ointment.
He left the field in the 37th minute and it was while he was writhing in pain while receiving medical attention that the Lions pounced to level the score to 19-all.
The Cheetahs perhaps deserved a halftime lead. Centre Munier Hartzenberg proved a live wire, particularly in confined spaces, with fullback Michael Annies equally sparky.
The Cheetahs were full of early energy and enterprise and they met reward when the ball bounced kindly for flyhalf Ethan Wentzel.
Seven minutes later the ball again bounced kindly for the visitors, though the origins of the try were with them on the back foot.
Though Wentzel was the star of the show in the opening quarter, he turned villain when the clock struck 20 minutes. It was his tardy attempted clearance that was charged down with no one back as cover that allowed Lions No8 Jarod Cairns to run in unopposed.
When the Lions drew level it came with an almighty roar from the stands as Ntlabakanye jumped out of a tackle and charged for the try line.
Rabz Maxwane found space and provided the impetus for a thrilling try that swept the length of the field. Kade Wolhuter lacked the speed and composure to make the try stick but the Lions then hit left using the width of the field before Venter charged in for the try.
Venter was withdrawn from battle in the 48th minute but the Lions' bench helped turn the game decisively in their favour.
Scorers
Lions (19) 43 — Tries: Jarod Cairns, Asenathi Ntlabakanye, Ruan Venter, Marius Louw, Sanele Nohamba, Morne Brandon. Conversions: Kade Wolhuter 3, Nohamba 2. Penalty: Nohamba.
Cheetahs (19) 34 — Tries: Ethan Wentzel 2. Cohen Jasper, Victor Sekekete, Vernon Paulo, Georghe Lourens. Conversions: Wentzel 2.
