Lions send Cheetahs crashing out of Currie Cup

Johannesburg - The Golden Lions beat the Free State Cheetahs 44-17 in Johannesburg on Saturday night to send the visitors crashing out of the Currie Cup. 

The result means that the men from Bloemfontein finish 5th on the overall log, thus missing out on a place in the semi-finals. 

The Bulls, meanwhile, sneak into 4th after their win against the Pumas on Friday night. 

This clash was effectively a quarter-final, with the loser always likely to be sent packing. 

It was an entertaining clash that was rich in attacking intent, but the Lions always appeared to have too much for a Cheetahs side that has seen their tournament charge fade since the beginning of the PRO14. 

The Lions scored five tries to just two by the Cheetahs and had taken a 13-10 lead into the half time break. 

Courtnall Skosan (2), Cyle Brink, Kwagga Smith and  were the try scorers for the Lions while a Makazole Mapimpi intercept and a late Paul Schoeman score were all the Cheetahs had to show for their efforts. 

Next weekend, the Lions will travel to Cape Town for a semi-final against Western Province while the Sharks will host the Blue Bulls in Durban in the other semi.

Scorers:

Lions 44 (13)

Tries: Courtnall Skosan (2), Cyle Brink, Kwagga Smith, Robert Kruger

Conversions: Jaco van der Walt (5)

Penalties: Van der Walt (3)

Cheetahs 17 (10)

Tries: Makazole Mapimpi, Paul Schoeman

Conversions: Ernst Stapelberg (2)

Penalty: Stapelberg

Teams:

Golden Lions

15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Aphiwe Dyantyi, 13 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Courtnall Skosan, 10 Jaco van der Walt, 9 Ross Cronjé, 8 Kwagga Smith, 7 Cyle Brink, 6 Len Massyn, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Andries Ferreira, 3 Jacobie Adriaanse, 2 Robbie Coetzee, 1 Jacques van Rooyen (captain)

Substitutes: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Dylan Smith, 18 Rhyno Herbst, 19 Robert Kruger, 20 Marco Jansen van Vuren 21 Ashlon Davids, 22 Sylvian Mahuza

Free State Cheetahs

15 Raymond Rhule, 14 Rosko Specman, 13 Nico Lee, 12 William Small-Smith, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Ernst Stapelberg, 9 Tian Meyer, 8 Oupa Mohoje, 7 Henco Venter, 6 Paul Schoeman, 5 Reniel Hugo, 4 Justin Basson, 3 Johan Coetzee, 2 Torsten van Jaarsveld (captain), 1 Charles Marais

Substitutes: 16 Ox Nche, 17 Jacques du Toit, 18 Rynier Bernardo, 19 Junior Pokomela, 20 Shaun Venter, 21 Ali Mgijima, 22 Luther Obi