Currie Cup
Lions skipper lauds his charges
2012-09-16 13:45
JC Janse van Rensburg (File)
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Johannesburg - Golden Lions' prop and captain JC Janse van Rensburg has praised his side for their bonus point victory over the Cheetahs on Saturday.
The Johannesburg side beat the hosts 38-23 in Bloemfontein for their second five points in succession and now find themselves as the overall leaders on the log, with only a better points difference separating them from the second placed Sharks.
"It's a good effort from our side to achieve five points twice in two weeks," Janse van Rensburg said after the match.
"It does help when you're starting to talk about possible home semi-finals. I'm very happy with how things went against the Cheetahs.
"The side performed well."
Janse van Rensburg said he was pleased with the team's defensive efforts and was encouraged by the manner in which the side picked themselves up after slumping after half-time.
"We had to make more tackles, especially when Franco van der Merwe got a yellow card, but we defended pretty well," he said.
"We may not have had the pick of the possession, but when we got the ball in hand, we converted it into points."
The Lions next face the Sharks in Johannesburg and Janse van Rensburg said the team were looking to reward their home supporters.
"We came up short against Griquas in Johannesburg and want to give our home crowd something to cheer about," the skipper said.
"But for now we're happy with the victory. We had to get some points, and we did. We're happy."
Meanwhile, the Cheetahs find themselves two points from the bottom-of-the-log Blue Bulls and in danger of relegation from the provincial top tier.
"We are left disappointed once again. We enjoyed the territorial advantage and had the pick of the possession," Cheetahs captain Robert Ebersohn said.
"But we just couldn't convert. We have to turn it around now otherwise it is going to be a difficult couple of weeks.
"Come Monday, we will have to come up with a solution. If not, it is going to become increasingly difficult to keep our hopes alive."