Lions roar into Super Rugby final
Waratahs dream comes to an abrupt end as it will a repeat of last year’s final. This time it will be played in Christchurch, the home of the Crusaders, who are the defending champions
The Waratahs’ Super Rugby dream ended under the relentless pressure of a Lions team with unfinished business at Ellis Park, yesterday.
The Lions will travel to Christchurch to play in their third consecutive final and stare down a rematch with the Crusaders, the team that beat them in their own backyard to claim the title last year, after beating the Waratahs 44-26.
They richly deserve the opportunity, outscoring their Australian opponents six tries to four under a deafening stadium soundtrack of Afrikaans pop songs, big cat sounds and the Shosholoza, an African miners’ song that rung out at the same venue when Francois Pienaar’s Springboks won the World Cup final in 1995.
SIZZLING TALENT
They produced the more complete performance, overcoming a 14-0 deficit after 10 minutes by sending in turnover merchants Malcolm Marx and Kwagga Smith to disrupt the Waratahs’ attack, using their maul to score two tries and injecting the likes of sizzling young talent Aphiwe Dyantyi to slice and dice the visitors’ defences. The Waratahs burst out of the blocks with two converted tries to Ned Hanigan and Israel Folau, and they didn’t ever stop believing a win was possible, even when Damien Fitzpatrick was sent to the bin for running offside and the Lions racked up an 18-point lead with 10 minutes to go. Jake Gordon scored to keep them in the match but a Courtnal Skosan try put the result beyond doubt.
The Lions didn’t get on the board until the 21st minute but they made up for lost time. Smith gave Sekope Kepu the slip to score and five-eighth Elton Jantjies converted to make it 14-7.
Hooker Marx almost repeated his quarter-final intercept try exploits but Kurtley Beale did well to pull him down just outside the Waratahs’ 22.
But 24-year-old winger Aphiwe Dyantyi made the play of the match, recapturing his own chip kick and sprinting from outside halfway - past Curtis Rona and Foley to score in the 26th minute. Jantjies missed the conversion to leave his side trailing 1412.