Lions Pride

This weekend was a mini disaster. My Superbru picks were mostly wrong picking only one from five and only the Sharks doing what they were supposed to do – win.

Starting with the Boks vs the All Blacks I think we learned a few things:

• Johan Goosen is not ready physically for the rigors of senior rugby. It took just 150 minutes of test rugby for him to leave the field injured. (Refer to my post When will Johan Goosen break?) His coaches will have to figure out how to use him and how to toughen him up otherwise he will be lost to SA rugby within a few years.

• Coenie Oosthuizen is not a tighthead and shouldn’t be on the Bok bench as a prop replacement. Also, he is a penalty machine, worth more to the opposition than to the Boks.

• 56m kicks are out of range for Elton Jantjies. He might slot them occasionally in practice but shouldn’t try them in a match.

Watching the match I got the impression that the Boks were nervous and rushed, especially in the second half. Ball carriers struggled to cross the advantage line and were often isolated resulting in turnovers.

Another thing that struck me was how often Ruan Pienaar missed out the flyhalf through the match, passing directly to Jean de Villiers. This was probably a tactic, maybe to “protect” the young flyhalves, but it resulted in too few backline players involved in backline movements making it easier for the All Blacks to defend.

On to the Currie Cup.

Griquas vs Lions:

The Lions didn’t seem too interested in playing in the heat on the hardpacked Kimberley field. Their scrums and lineouts were atrocious and Derick Minnie had a nightmare first day back from injury.

Without taking anything away from the Griquas, who were motivated and committed to stay out of the relegation zone, the Lions lackadaisical performance played into their hands leading to a number of soft tries from turnover ball where the Lions poor decision making and lack of commitment showed.

The Lions midfield was without spark and it was left to Butch James and the back three to try and manufacture something.

The result is that the Lions might just have given away a potential home final and will end second on the log unless Griquas can beat the Sharks in Durban next week and the Lions beat the Bulls at the Coke Tin.

Bulls vs WP:

What can one say? WP forgot to bring their rugby game to Loftus and was totally outplayed up front. Unfortunately for the Bulls Griquas’ win over the Lions means that they remain bottom of the log and have a must win game against the Lions next week.

Cheetahs vs Sharks:

I couldn’t watch this match as there was no live streaming available but this is the only game I got right on Superbru and the Sharks, leading the log by two points, have a good chance of finishing top of the log, they only have to beat Griquas in Durban this weekend to ensure that, eve a draw might be enough.

With the bottom four teams within two points of each other only the Sharks and the Lions are assured of semi-final spots, the rest could still make either play-off – semi-final or promotion/relegation – so next week’s games will be crucial to these teams’ fortunes. As the weekend progresses the teams will know exactly what they have to do in their matches.

The log:

Next weekend:

Fri, 12 October
Sharks vs Griquas 19h10 Durban: Griquas must win, Sharks probably only need a draw

Sat, 13 October
Western Province vs FS Cheetahs 17h05 Cape Town: Winner into the semis, loser might be on the other end
Golden Lions vs Blue Bulls 19h10 Johannesburg: Lions fortunes depend on whether Sharks win, lose or draw, Bulls must win else they play the Kings.