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Arguably the least favoured of all four remaining sides in the 2013 competition to go all the way to glory on October 26, the Lions quietly revel in their status as the little ‘uns who so often punch above their weight, given the various debilitating upheaval in their union in recent years.
On their side is the fact that they weren’t too confidently expected to lift the cup in 2011, either: certainly not against final opponents the Sharks for whom non-Springboks in their starting ranks were very much exceptions rather than norms on the day.
Instead it is history now that in the most one-sided final since 1980 (when iconic skipper Morne du Plessis was an eleventh-hour withdrawal for Western Province and they were murdered 39-9 by the Bulls at Loftus) the bushy-tailed Lions romped to Ellis Park glory 42-16.
The situation for Saturday’s Newlands semi (14:30) won’t be too different, with favourites Province boasting considerably more gnarly internationals in their match-day 22 than the Lions will.
So it must help the highvelders to know they have at least a couple of “been there, done that” Currie Cup-winning men in their own midst, with Minnie a standout figure in that regard.
Alberton-born, he is a Lions man to the core, having enlisted with their academy as a teenager in 2004 and been witness to so much tumult in the franchise since then.
Minnie, 26, is also the new heartbeat of the team, considering that the once instantly-recognisable Josh Strauss – who must have saved so much money in bypassing the razor-blade shelves at the supermarket – joined a great exodus of players from the Jo’burg fold for a new career at faraway Glasgow Warriors.
Minnie, Strauss and Michael Rhodes made up the Lions loose trio that memorable day in October 2011, with the first-named player the lone survivor (Rhodes ironically will be on the WP bench on Saturday).
Now Minnie leads a different alliance into combat on this occasion, with Jaco Kriel and Warren Whiteley his new companions in the bid to fell more fancied foes.
Generally blessed with an unusual ability to stay injury-free, the captain was a fulsome element of the Lions’ typically tenacious performance in the round-robin meeting at Newlands earlier this month.
Don’t be too deceived by the fact that this was a game where Province sneaked a rare four-try bonus point at the death in prevailing 36-23 – the Lions were right in the contest until late on and Minnie, one of those flankers who gives his all both as a pilferer and carrier, dotted two tries in his role as a key navigator at rolling mauls.
His style is to play right on the edge -- in line with the Lions’ broadly buccaneering, high-risk approach to their rugby -- and there were some tempering thoughts on his game from opinionated pundit and former Bok coach Nick Mallett on a SuperSport chat show on Thursday.
“Minnie’s accuracy at the breakdown is not what it should be as captain ... he is a very penalizable player.”
It is true that the dynamo explores the boundaries of legality, and Marius Jonker is the official charged with deciding on Saturday whether Minnie is being just plain admissibly destructive in favour of his cause, or crossing the fence to unreasonably “obstructive”.
But Mallett did add an indirectly admiring, tempering view: “I don’t want to take anything away from his enthusiasm ...”
If the Lions’ 2013 Currie Cup quest does get thwarted at Newlands, it will not be without Derick Minnie having done his utmost to be an inspiration through personal industry to his young and appealingly daredevil charges.
And perhaps get away with what he can.
*Follow our chief writer on Twitter: @RobHouwing
