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Rob Houwing, Sport24 chief writer
Cape Town - Next weekend sees an Absa Currie Cup meeting between champions the Sharks and runners-up Western Province ... but momentum this winter presently lies elsewhere with the once ridiculed and chaotic Lions.
Newlands stages an appealing Friday night affair, so as not to clash with the Castle Tri-Nations Test on Saturday between the Springboks and Wallabies in Durban, as Province get a first opportunity to avenge the 30-10 defeat in the 2010 showpiece.
It is a battle between the second (Sharks) and third-placed teams at this stage of the latest campaign, however, as the Lions hold the highest ground after ending the fourth round as the only unbeaten team.
The men led by that inspiring, Captain Haddock-lookalike Josh Strauss claimed the embattled Blue Bulls as their latest scalp, significantly winning 36-27 away and condemning the Loftus-based team to a second game on the trot without even a losing bonus point to show for their efforts.
Even more remarkably, the Bulls, who had been infused with several returning Springboks for this derby, currently lie rock bottom of the standings on inferior points difference to the seventh-placed Pumas.
These teams meet at atmospheric Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit on Friday evening - potentially another banana peel fixture for the Bulls as they try desperately to claw their way back into contention after a solitary win from four starts.
The Lions’ team ethic came very much to the fore in Pretoria as they scampered and scurried from start to finish, tackled with great zeal and abrasiveness and as a result forced the Bulls into a sorry string of penalty concessions - most often for offences at the breakdown.
It also meant that the home team suffered the fairly rare occurrence of a player - Bok lock Flip van der Merwe - earning a red card for a second yellow. That went a long way to ending their resistance in the crucial last few minutes.
Young Elton Jantjies may be considered a long way off finished article by some critics, but the flyhalf had a commanding day in the Lions’ flyhalf channel, and not just because of his rich harvest off the tee.
His all-round game was unflappable and authoritative and he did not shirk physical chores, either.
Taking a bit of the gloss of their latest triumph, though, was the sight of one of seasoned midfielder Waylon Murray’s legs buckling horribly as he changed his angle as a ball-carrier and something appearing to “explode” in the knee region - this former Sharks player has had enough setbacks in the game already and being stretchered off in considerable pain was a bad sign.
Next up for the Lions, who lead the table by four points from the defending champions after the Sharks’ startling Friday night comeuppance in Kimberley, are the Cheetahs, who saw off WP 28-22 in a closely-contested and sometimes niggly match in Bloemfontein.
From a national point of view, the encounter was notable for that low-slung open-side flank phenomenon Heinrich Brussow coming off the bench for a 25-minute burst at long last and making an instant impression in the contest for the ball on the deck.
He will now be fast-tracked back into plans for the Test in Durban, although it is uncertain whether he will be awarded a start against the Wallabies - a likelier scenario, perhaps, is Jean Deysel being asked to patrol the less familiar open side until Brussow is let loose on the paddock later on.
So the Friday night Currie Cup feature game at Newlands will see both of the 2010 finalists take to the field on the back of defeats.
If anything, it may only raise the stakes for the fixture.
The domestic competition generally continues to smoulder quite promisingly, perhaps a little against the pre-tourney odds ...
This week’s fixtures (home teams first):
Friday:
Pumas v Bulls, Nelspruit - 17:05
Griquas v Leopards, Kimberley - 19:00
Western Province v Sharks, Cape Town - 19:10
Saturday:
Golden Lions v Cheetahs, Johannesburg - 19:10
Cape Town - Next weekend sees an Absa Currie Cup meeting between champions the Sharks and runners-up Western Province ... but momentum this winter presently lies elsewhere with the once ridiculed and chaotic Lions.
Newlands stages an appealing Friday night affair, so as not to clash with the Castle Tri-Nations Test on Saturday between the Springboks and Wallabies in Durban, as Province get a first opportunity to avenge the 30-10 defeat in the 2010 showpiece.
It is a battle between the second (Sharks) and third-placed teams at this stage of the latest campaign, however, as the Lions hold the highest ground after ending the fourth round as the only unbeaten team.
The men led by that inspiring, Captain Haddock-lookalike Josh Strauss claimed the embattled Blue Bulls as their latest scalp, significantly winning 36-27 away and condemning the Loftus-based team to a second game on the trot without even a losing bonus point to show for their efforts.
Even more remarkably, the Bulls, who had been infused with several returning Springboks for this derby, currently lie rock bottom of the standings on inferior points difference to the seventh-placed Pumas.
These teams meet at atmospheric Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit on Friday evening - potentially another banana peel fixture for the Bulls as they try desperately to claw their way back into contention after a solitary win from four starts.
The Lions’ team ethic came very much to the fore in Pretoria as they scampered and scurried from start to finish, tackled with great zeal and abrasiveness and as a result forced the Bulls into a sorry string of penalty concessions - most often for offences at the breakdown.
It also meant that the home team suffered the fairly rare occurrence of a player - Bok lock Flip van der Merwe - earning a red card for a second yellow. That went a long way to ending their resistance in the crucial last few minutes.
Young Elton Jantjies may be considered a long way off finished article by some critics, but the flyhalf had a commanding day in the Lions’ flyhalf channel, and not just because of his rich harvest off the tee.
His all-round game was unflappable and authoritative and he did not shirk physical chores, either.
Taking a bit of the gloss of their latest triumph, though, was the sight of one of seasoned midfielder Waylon Murray’s legs buckling horribly as he changed his angle as a ball-carrier and something appearing to “explode” in the knee region - this former Sharks player has had enough setbacks in the game already and being stretchered off in considerable pain was a bad sign.
Next up for the Lions, who lead the table by four points from the defending champions after the Sharks’ startling Friday night comeuppance in Kimberley, are the Cheetahs, who saw off WP 28-22 in a closely-contested and sometimes niggly match in Bloemfontein.
From a national point of view, the encounter was notable for that low-slung open-side flank phenomenon Heinrich Brussow coming off the bench for a 25-minute burst at long last and making an instant impression in the contest for the ball on the deck.
He will now be fast-tracked back into plans for the Test in Durban, although it is uncertain whether he will be awarded a start against the Wallabies - a likelier scenario, perhaps, is Jean Deysel being asked to patrol the less familiar open side until Brussow is let loose on the paddock later on.
So the Friday night Currie Cup feature game at Newlands will see both of the 2010 finalists take to the field on the back of defeats.
If anything, it may only raise the stakes for the fixture.
The domestic competition generally continues to smoulder quite promisingly, perhaps a little against the pre-tourney odds ...
This week’s fixtures (home teams first):
Friday:
Pumas v Bulls, Nelspruit - 17:05
Griquas v Leopards, Kimberley - 19:00
Western Province v Sharks, Cape Town - 19:10
Saturday:
Golden Lions v Cheetahs, Johannesburg - 19:10
