The Lions shrugged off a spirited effort by the Sharks to win 14-0 in their Absa Currie Cup match at Ellis Park on Saturday night.
The Sharks had most of the try-scoring opportunities, but they went into half-time without scoring as the Lions led 3-0.
The visitors created all the play and came agonisingly close to scoring, but the resolute Lions defence stood firm. Sharks scrumhalf Rory Kockott kept the Lions’ defence on their toes with his probing breaks, but the Lions’ loose trio knocked back any Sharks player with the ball around the fringes of the rucks and scrums.
The Lions’ forwards were rather poor in protecting their own ball, but they also disrupted a lot of the Sharks’ ball from rucks.
The Sharks’ back line received a lot of good ball, but they ran the wrong lines on many occasions and instead of running straight to give the outside backs more space, they ran skew as the Lions defence marshalled them to the touchlines.
Lions flanker Cobus Grobbelaar’s try in the last 10 minutes of the game was the final nail in the Sharks’ coffin as the Lions stretched their lead to 15 points. Even though the Sharks answered back with a try of their own through former Lions centre Gcobani Bobo, the damage had already been done.
Sharks centre Adrian Jacob was instrumental in setting up Bobo’s try and throughout the game he broke the Lions’ defence more often than not.
Sharks fullback Odwa Ndungane was another player who shone in the Sharks back line as his positional play at fullback was very good and his counter-attacks kept the Lions’ defence honest.
The Sharks might have been on the wrong side of the result, but the opportunities they created are a definite plus as the visitors could have scored at least four tries in the game.
Sharks captain AJ Venter will have to rally his young troops and prepare for the wounded Western Province, who lost the game against neighbours Boland earlier in the afternoon.
The Lions defended their try line with all their might and despite narrowly losing to Western Province last week, their calm heads on defence will take them a long way into the tournament.
Lions captain Ernst Joubert and man-of-the-match Grobbelaar showed their class.
The Lions scrum was impressive and the tussle between Zimbabwean props Tendai ”Beast” Mtawarira and Brian Mujati was special. Lions prop Mujati will feel he won that battle, but it was
the Lions’ tight five who were instrumental in the Lions’ ascendancy in the scrums.
The Sharks will walk away with a bonus point from this match, but the Lions will have their third big game in a row when they cross the Jukskei to take on the wounded Bulls in their fortress Loftus Versfeld next weekend. — Sapa