Sharks down Lions in Currie Cup meeting at Ellis Park

In a Currie Cup littered with the young and uninitiated, it was the seasoned — and now slightly greying — Lionel Cronje who drove the Sharks to their first win in this season's competition at Ellis Park on Saturday.

His masterclass helped inflict a first defeat on the Lions, who will look back at this performance with little pride.

Cronje — sure of foot, hand and mind — helped engineer the Lions' demise with a stellar performance that also saw him contribute 15 points.

It was, however, the manner in which Cronje pegged the Lions back with a fine exhibition of out-of-hand kicking that helped shape the course of events. The Lions' kicking was truly abysmal. When the hosts applied the boot they invariably found a player in black awaiting the ball's arrival.

Apart from Cronje, the Sharks had another miracle worker in midfield. Junior Springbok Jurenzo Julius showed his star quality on debut. He is a bundle of relentless energy that the Lions found difficult to contain, no more so than the marauding run in the 24th minute that saw him shrug off would-be defenders as if he were the senior in an age-group game.

Julius scored again in the second half when his deft footwork thrust fresh impetus into a move that appeared to have broken down.

The Lions' shortfalls were apparent elsewhere too. A slew of scrum penalties conspired against the home team, who was mostly clawless until they rallied in the final quarter of the game. It was their sins earlier in the game, however, that was to leave a lasting impression.

The Sharks held territorial sway in the opening 10 minutes and laid claim to a fair amount of possession too.

Cronje helped keep the Lions in their half and the ensuing pressure forced the hosts into errors. One of those presented Cronje the opportunity to register the first points, which he duly did.

It did, however, present the Lions the opportunity to get out of their half and the hosts used it as a springboard to get a foothold in the game. Their forwards, who had been resigned to defending, now took receipt of the ball on the charge.

Lions flyhalf Sam Francis levelled matters and soon hooker Jaco Visagie and flank Ruan Venter started making an impression, but outside of that the Lions lacked continuity and did not pose a serious threat to the Sharks' tryline in the opening half.

The Sharks, by contrast, were ruthless when opportunities fell their way.

Cronje's delicate but stinging probe with the boot posed an awkward question for Rabz Maxwane, who was hoping to provide a last line of cover. The Lions wing, however, made a complete hash of collecting the ball in his stride and he left it unattended for Sharks lock Reniel Hugo to pick up and dot down.

The Sharks were 20-3 to the good at the break — but soon matters got worse for the hosts. A red card to lock Ruben Schoeman four minutes into the second half seemed to seal the Lions' fate.

Two minutes later they lost centre Manuel Rass, who was interminably in the care of the medics before he left the field on the back of a medical cart.

Somehow the Lions drew inspiration from the preceding events and launched their most besieged attack, leading to a try for replacement Morne Brandon.

Replacement back Zander du Plessis injected energy into the Lions' effort, but the Sharks kept punishing them.

At Loftus Versfeld, the Bulls went top of the table as they kept their unblemished record intact with a 50-34 win over Western Province.

Western Province scored three tries in racking up 27 points in the first half but they were barely recognisable after the break. The Bulls hit back after the restart when No8 Mpilo Gumede set out on a solo run that helped get his team back into the game.

WP looked thoroughly rattled by the time Zak Burger's quick pick-and-go got the Bulls in front by the 53rd minute.

The momentum was firmly with the Bulls, and it came as little surprise when hooker Joe van Zyl rounded off after the hosts opted to go the direct route against an increasingly fragmented defence.

Though a 63rd-minute Angelo Davids try got WP back into the contest Juann Else and Jaco van der Walt's tries put the issue beyond doubt.

Scorers

Lions (3) 22 - Tries: Morne Brandon, SJ Kotze, Layton Horn. Conversion: Sam Francis Penalty: Francis.

Sharks (20) 35 - Tries: Jurenzo Julius 2, Reniel Hugo, Yaw Penxe. Conversions: Lionel Cronje 3. Penalties: Cronje 2. Drop goal: Cronje.