Rampant Lions book Final berth

The Golden Lions turned in a dominant second-half performance to beat Western province 44-25 in their Vodacom Cup semifinal at Ellis Park in Johannesburg on Saturday.

The Golden Lions ran in four second-half tries, to go with the two they scored in the first-half, to set up a final against the Pumas in Nelspruit on May 18.

Western Province replied with just two tries while flyhalf Kurt Coleman ended with 15 points courtesy of five successful penalty kicks.

Fullback Chrysander Botha, a Namibia international, scored a brace of tries for the hosts, while flyhalf Marnitz Boshoff kicked 14 points through four conversions, one penalty and a drop goal.

Boshoff and Coleman swapped early penalties but the hosts grabbed their first try after outside centre Deon van Rensburg slipped over in the right-hand corner in the ninth minute.

The Lions pivot kicked a drop goal four minutes later before Coleman narrowed the gap with his second successful penalty of the contest.

However, the Lions extended their lead in the 22nd minute, when right wing Deon Helberg received the ball on Western Province's 10-metre line before jinking his way past two defenders on his way to a converted score.

Province worked their way back into the contest and, 11 minutes before the break, fullback Tim Swiel sliced through the host's defence to canter over.

Coleman missed his conversion attempt but he succeeded with a 36th minute penalty as the Lions went to the break holding an 18-14 lead.

The home team opened up their lead shortly after the restart when Helberg collected his own chip ahead from the Lions' 10-metre line before off loading to Botha to score the try.

Province narrowed the gap to just five points thanks to two penalties from Coleman but the Lions struck back once again when left wing Anthony Volmink chased through a speculative grubber kick to go over for a converted try.

Flank Willie Britz and Botha added two more tries before Western Province grabbed a consolation try through replacement centre Kobus van Wyk.

The scorers:

For Golden Lions:

Tries: Van Rensburg, Helberg, Botha 2, Volmink, Britz

Cons: Boshoff 4

Pen: Boshoff

DG: Boshoff

For Western Province:

Tries: Swiel, Van Wyk

Pens: Coleman 5

The teams:

Golden Lions: 15 Chrysander Botha, 14 Deon Helberg, 13 Deon van Rensburg, 12 Alwyn Hollenbach, 11 Anthony Volmink, 10 Marnitz Boshoff, 9 Michael Bondesio, 8 Warren Whiteley (captain), 7 Willie Britz, 6 Warwick Tecklenburg, 5 Hugo Kloppers, 4 Hendrik Roodt, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 Robbie Coetzee, 1 Jacques van Rooyen.

Replacements: 16 Francois Du Toit, 17 van Zyl Botha, 18 JJ Breet, 19 Gavin Annandale, 20 Ross Cronje, 21 Lionel Cronje, 22 Dylan Des Fountain.

Western Province: 15 Tim Swiel, 14 Patrick Howard, 13 Berton Klaasen, 12 Michael van der Spuy, 11 Devon Williams, 10 Kurt Coleman, 9 Bolla Conradie (captain), 8 Rayn Smid, 7 Graham Knoop, 6 Helmut Lehmann, 5 Wilhelm van der Sluys, 4 Gerbrandt Grobler, 3 Chris Heiberg, 2 Stephan Coetzee, 1 Ashley Wells.

Replacements: 16 Jody Reyneke, 17 Hendrik Ferreira, 18 Mthetheleli Fuzani, 19 Sikumbuzo Notshe, 20 Godlen Masimla, 21 Kobus van Wyk, 22 Dillyn Leyds.

Referee: Marius Jonker

Assistant referees: Jaco van Heerden, Sieg van Staden

TMO: Deon van Blommestein