Lions seal top spot in Currie Cup

MATCH REPORT: The Lions have cemented top spot on the Currie Cup table with an emphatic 62-5 win over the Griffons at Ellis Park.

The Griffons showed a lot of enterprise and frustrated the Lions in the opening four minutes, but after sustained pressure by the home side with Naude getting them on the front foot with a solid carry, Steyn gave the ball away to Landsberg who went over for the opening score in the fifth minute.

Dewald Human’s restart was out on the full which gave the Lions a scrum on halfway, but then the penalty went the way of the visitors.

Wing Andrew Kota lined up the long range attempt but pushed the kick away to the left of the uprights.

The Lions went back on the attack and a perfectly executed kick from the base of the ruck by Nico Steyn saw Maxwane tap the ball back into the hands of Jarod Cairns who went in for the Lions’ second try.

Ten minutes later the Lions had an attacking lineout of which Renzo du Plessis went over to dot down and extend his 2024 record with his 10th try of the campaign.

The hosts showcased their skill through the match and it paid off when the backs played some slick and quick hands to get Maxwane in a gap for the bonus-point try in the 33rd minute.

Three minutes later Boldwin Hansen chased the ball kicked ahead and dotted down for the score.

The Lions started the second half a little slow but it didn’t take too long to get their flow going as in the 47th minute – after good ball retention and patience on attack, Renzo du Plessis set up Maxwane to bag his second score of the evening.

The Griffons had an opportunity to get onto the scoreboard but squandered it when they had a penalty for a dangerous tackle and opted for the five metre lineout.

The Lions knocked the ball on to give the Griffons an attacking scrum, off which the Lions were penalised at the following breakdown for being offside.

The visitors took the quick tap penalty and ended up being held up over the line.

Moments later, the Lions got possession back after the Griffons lost it and Sanele Nohamba nailed a cross kick for Hansen to chase on which he kicked ahead into the in-goal area and dot it down for a brace in the 56th minute.

The Griffons finally got on the scoreboard in the 59th minute when Boldwin Hansen was penalised for being offside and the Griffons went to the corner.

They set up a great lineout maul which Willem van den Hever went over for the visitors’ only score of the evening.

The Lions were on the attack when Zander du Plessis knocked the ball on and the Griffons earned the scrum.

The penalty, however went to the Lions off which Kade Wolhuter set the five metre lineout off which JC Pretorius went over off the maul for the try in the 64th minutes which Kade Wolhuter converted to bring up the half century for the home side.

The game went back and forth from both sides until the Lions turned the ball over and Jarod Cairns found a gap and ran it in for the score in the 73rd minute.

The Lions weren’t done yet, as in the 78th minute attacking from their own half – they got themselves into the Griffons 22 metre area and under penalty advantage showed great handling to get the ball in the hands of JC Pretorius who shrugged Kota off to seal a near faultless Lions performance.

Scorers:

For the Lions:
Tries: Landsberg, Du Plessis, Cairns 2, Maxwane 2, Pretorius 2, Hansen 2
Cons: Wolhuter 6

For the Griffons:
Try: Van den Hever

Teams:

Lions: 15 Tapiwa Mafura, 14 Boldwin Hansen, 13 Kelly Mpeku, 12 Rynhardt Jonker, 11 Rabs Maxwane, 10 Kade Wolhuter, 9 Nico Steyn, 8 Jarod Cairns, 7 Siba Qoma, 6 Renzo du Plessis, 5 Darrien-Lane Landsberg, 4 Ruben Schoeman, 3 Conrad van Vuuren, 2 Jaco Visagie (captain), 1 Heiko Pohlman.
Replacements: 16 Morne Brandon, 17 Juan Schoeman, 18 RF Schoeman, 19 Raynard Roets, 20 Ruhan Straeuli, 21 JC Pretorius, 22 Sanele Nohamba, 23 Zander du Plessis.

Griffons: 15 Kyle Cyster, 14 Qamani Kota, 13 Chris Hollis, 12 Juandre de Beer, 11 Gershwin Wehr, 10 Duan Pretorius, 9 Dewald Human, 8 Calla Pienaar, 7 Thomas Ongera, 6 Thato Mavundla, 5 Rian Oliver, 4 Matthew Gray, 3 Moango Ngundue, 2 Willem van den Hever 1 Xolani Jacobs.
Replacements: 16 Chadley Wenn, 17 Mthokozisi Gumede, 18 Edwin Nxumalo, 19 Joshua Paris, 20 Curtly Thomas, 21 David Bunduki, 22 Cheslin Arendse, 23 Gilroy Philander, 24 Jared Kruger, 25 Mingo Piti, 26 Christiaan Nel.

Referee: Morne Ferreira
Assistant referees: Local
TMO: Ben Crouse