Lions topple WP at Ellis Park

Johannesburg - The Golden Lions brought Western Province's unbeaten record in this year's Currie Cup to an emphatic end with a riveting 35-33 victory at Ellis Park on Saturday.

The encounter lived up to all the hype that it would be an attractive open running game as the sides scored eight tries in total with the hosts taking the lion's share with five.

The encounter started at breakneck pace and for the first 10 minutes there was no sign that it would dissipate.

It was wall-to-wall action as the sides launched attack and counter-attack at each other with their defence initially holding.

The hosts struck the first blow as they progressed to the tryline where prop Schalk van der Merwe crossed the whitewash.

Western Province pulled back three points after they came close to adding their own five-pointer but instead returned to their half with a penalty conversion in the bag.

The visitors, however, demonstrated why their backline is rated the best in the competition when pocket-rocket fullback Cheslin Kolbe sparked a magnificent attack.

Kolbe received the ball from an attacking scrum and sold a dummy to his outside before offloading to his captain and centre Juan de Jongh, who made a beeline to the line for the touchdown.

Coleman converted the try and extended his side's lead to six points on the half-hour mark with a penalty conversion.

The Lions, however, went into the half-time break with the advantage when up-and-coming flyhalf Jaco van der Walt showed off his skill to put captain Lionel Mapoe through for their second try of the night.

Van der Walt, playing with increased confidence, stepped and dummied his way past the Western Province defence inside the danger zone before he offloaded to Mapoe, who tumbled over the line for the try. Ruan Combrinck converted to send his side to the change room with a narrow one-point lead.

Ten minutes into the second half, Province went into the lead thanks to a Kurt Coleman penalty conversion before adding another two minutes later.

The Capetonians seemed to launch a realistic fightback but the Lions instead went on a rampage which saw them score two tries within five minutes to effectively take the wind out of the visitors' sails.

Firecracker hooker Armand van der Merwe sparked the Lions blitz as he sprinted down the righthand touchline to beat two defenders for the try in the corner after he received a well-weighted offload from Van der Walt.

Five minutes later, Van der Merwe again had a hand in a Lions try when he gave the final overhead pass to flank Jaco Kriel for their fourth try to extend the advantage to 28-19.

With 12 minutes left on the clock lock Franco Mostert also got in on the action as he was stopped short of the line, only to stretch to dot down.

Province, however, showed immense character in the dying moments of the match to try and salvage a bonus try to get within seven points.

Two minutes from time Justin Geduld scored his side's second try of the night and pressurised by De Jongh, Kolbe took a quick dropped conversion as time was running out.

With no time in the match Province would not be denied the bonus point when Michael Rhodes crossed the whitewash, with Demetri Catrakilis converting.

Scorers:

Golden Lions

Tries: Schalk van der Merwe, Lionel Mapoe, Armand van der Merwe, Jaco Kriel, Franco Mostert Conversions: Ruan Combrinck (5)

Western Province

Tries: Juan de Jongh, Justin Geduld, Michael Rhodes
Conversions: Kurt Coleman, Cheslin Kolbe, Demetri Catrakilis
Penalties: Coleman (4)

Teams:

Golden Lions
15. Andries Coetzee, 14. Ruan Combrinck, 13. Lionel Mapoe (captain), 12. Stokkies Hanekom, 11. Courtnall Skosan, 10. Jaco van der Walt, 9. Ricky Schroeder, 8. Willie Britz, 7. Kwagga Smith, 6. Jaco Kriel/Warwick Tecklenburg, 5. Franco Mostert, 4. MB Lusaseni, 3. Ruan Dreyer, 2. Armand van der Merwe, 1. Schalk van der Merwe

Substitutes: 16. Malcolm Marx, 17. Jacques van Rooyen, 18. Martin Muller, 19. Warwick Tecklenburg/Steph de Wit, 20. Michael Bondesio, 21. Mark Richards, 22. Howard Mnisi

Western Province

15. Cheslin Kolbe, 14. Kobus van Wyk, 13. Juan de Jongh (captain), 12. Jaco Taute, 11. Pat Howard, 10. Kurt Coleman, 9. Louis Schreuder, 8. Nizaam Carr, 7. Michael Rhodes, 6. Siya Kolisi, 5. Ruan Botha, 4. Jean Kleyn, 3. Pat Cilliers, 2. Stephan Coetzee, 1. Alistair Vermaak

Substitutes: 16. Scarra Ntubeni, 17. Brok Harris, 18. Manuel Carizza, 19. Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 20. Godlen Masimla, 21. Demetri Catrakilis, 22. Justin Geduld