Johannesburg - The Golden Lions can secure their first Currie Cup home semi-final in more than a decade if they can beat Western Province at Coca-Cola Park on Saturday.

The last time the Golden Lions finished in the top two on the Currie Cup log was way back in 1999, when their current captain, Josh Strauss, was still at primary school.

Victory over WP would put the Johannesburg-based team in an untouchable position at the top of the log, but they realise it won’t be easy against a resurgent team that caused a minor upset last week by beating the Sharks in Durban.

A couple of hours earlier, the Golden Lions showed massive resolve to fight back from 11-25 down with five minutes to go in their game against the Free State Cheetahs in Bloemfontein to go home with a hard-fought 25-25 draw.

“Coming back against the Cheetahs certainly fired us up a bit more and the character we showed late in that game was a great plus,” said Strauss.

“And even though we saw what WP did in Durban, we’re not focused on other results. We know the four best teams will make it to the semi-finals and for us now, consistency is the key, as it’s been all season.

“We’re trying to stay away from getting too nervous and only have our goal for the weekend in mind - to win. It won’t be easy, as one of their strongest features is their dedication on defence, so we need to ensure we play a good brand of attacking rugby and try to expose that.”

Teams:

Lions:
15 Jaco Taute, 14 Deon van Rensburg, 13 Doppies la Grange, 12 Alwyn Hollenbach, 11 Michael Killian, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Michael Bondesio, 8 Warren Whiteley, 7 Joshua Strauss (captain), 6 Derick Minnie, 5 Franco van der Merwe, 4 Michael Rhodes, 3 Patric Cilliers, 2 Bandise Maku, 1 JC Janse van Rensburg

Substitutes: 16 Martin Bezuidenhout, 17 Jacobie Adriaanse, 18 David Bulbring, 19 Jaco Kriel, 20 Burton Francis, 21 Dylan des Fountain, 22 James Kamana

Western Province:
15 Conrad Jantjes, 14 Danie Poolman, 13 Berton Klaasen, 12 Marcel Brache, 11 JJ Engelbrecht, 10 Demetri Catrakilis, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage/Nic Groom, 8 Nick Koster, 7 Siya Kolisi, 6 Nick Fenton-Wells, 5 De Kock Steenkamp, 4 Adriaan Fondse, 3 Brok Harris, 2 Tiaan Liebenberg (captain), 1 JC Kritzinger

Substitutes: 16. Deon Fourie, 17. Frans Malherbe, 18. Hilton Lobberts, 19. Nizaam Carr, 20. Pieter Louw, 21. Nic Groom/Louis Schreuder, 22. Johann Sadie

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