Blooming lions continue to be in good shape as they tame sharks

the Lions They indisputably established themselves as the Currie Cup form team, as they claimed a 27-12 win the Sharks at Ellis Park on Saturday night.

It’s their fourth win at the trot and it shoots them to second position on the record.

Despite the pre-match expectation that the home team, given their healthy level of confidence, would employ their traditional attacking mentality approach to put down the Durbanites, this game turned into a tactical fight in which scoring opportunities they were limited to kicks on goal.

However, in preparation for the game, Lions captain and center Elton Jantjies noted that he and his teammates were working to ensure that they took advantage of the fleeting and rare opportunities that present themselves in a strength-versus-strength tournament. .

And they did exactly that in the 73rd minute when talented outside center Wandisile Simelane brilliantly exploited a jump pass, cut to deftly avoid Sharks Springbok winger S’bu Nkosi, and launched into the run that led to defender Tiaan. Swanepoel.

It was no less than the Lions deserved, as they were in control from start to finish.

As was the case at Bloemfontein last week, they withstood collisions well and dominated set pieces, particularly at scrum time, where returning loose head Dylan Smith deeply bothered the Sharks’ Michael Kumbirai.

They were also outstanding on defense, particularly in the third quarter when the visitors briefly threatened to mount some kind of comeback.

To be fair, they were also greatly assisted by a combination of Sharks that lacked cohesion.

With the Lions once again monopolizing possession and territory, they had to absorb a lot of pressure and couldn’t cope most of the way, conceding a series of penalties, which totaled a substantial eight at halftime.

In hindsight, the game ended as a competition in the 11th minute, when Lions wing Courtnall Skosan completed a sweeping motion towards the line in the left corner after the hosts opted not to kick to touch and attacked well. .

It was an early score that took a significant psychological blow.

So powerless were the Sharks in attack that two of Curwin Bosch’s four overhead penalties were taken from within their own half.

Instead, the Lions, without firing at full speed, made sure to score their points.