Cheetahs set out on similar course to the Lions
WHO’LL lay down the early marker – the Currie Cup champions or the Super Rugby runners-up from last year?
That’s the big question ahead of today’s first round Super Rugby match between the Cheetahs and Lions in Bloemfontein (3pm).
Both teams have made it clear that what happened in 2016 is long forgotten and they’re both starting from scratch today.
The reality, though, is that last year’s finalists, the Lions, will draw inspiration from that wonderful run, and on top of that they’re a settled team, having played together for a while now, while the Cheetahs would have been boosted by their 10-match unbeaten run in the Currie Cup.
They’ll both be confident today believing they’re good enough to win first-up, and let’s not forget the home team appear to be on the up.
It’s something Lions boss Johan Ackermann is all too aware of ahead of today’s match. “They’ve grown tremendously as a team in the last year and in a way they’ve followed the same kind of path we took.
“They started building two years ago when Franco Smith came in. They then went a step further last year and won the Currie Cup and are now in year three,” said Ackermann.
His own team took a similar route: 2014 was the rebuilding, 2015 saw them win the Currie Cup and last year they did superbly well in Super Rugby.
Could the Cheetahs follow the same path?
“They’ve got quality players all over the team; their tightfive is really strong, their loosies are great and their backs are very dangerous. On top of that, they’ve really only lost Lood (de Jager, to the Bulls) in the off-season.
“Franco has turned them back into an exciting team who play an exciting brand of rugby. What impressed me a lot was their accuracy in the Currie Cup.”
Indeed, the Cheetahs looked a good outfit by the end of the domestic competition in October, but their big test will be Super Rugby – week-in and week-out rugby, travelling, much tougher opposition and the expectation of their fans.
But the Lions also face a different challenge. They were something of the unknown force a year ago and not too many teams expected them to play as well as they did, but this year there’s the weight of expectation and everything about them is known. But is it?
“Every team will have improved this season, made changes to how they play, brought in new ideas and tactics, so we’re all starting from zero again,” said Ackermann.
“We can’t rely on what we did a year ago; we have to be better, more accurate and execute well again. It’s going to be another challenging season.”
With eight Springboks in the starting team, the Lions must be favourites today. But the Cheetahs are now the unknown force so it’s anyone’s guess who’ll come out on top after 80 minutes.
Yesterday, Samu Kerevi ran in two tries to help the Reds edge the Sharks 28-26 in a tense, physical contest at Lang Park.
Quade Cooper missed several shots at goal but tries by Kerevi, Scott Higginbotham and James Tuttle ensured the Reds kicked off their campaign on a winning note.
The Sharks made a strong start with tries by Jean-Luc du Preez and Tera Mtembu but could not cash in when Kane Douglas and Karmichael Hunt were sin-binned in the second half.
In Otago, James Lowe pounced on two stray passes and Hika Elliot took advantage of a dreaming defence to give the Chiefs a 24-15 victory over a wasteful Highlanders side who lost All Blacks fullback Ben Smith to a head injury.