Young Lions ready to roar with semi up for grabs

Before last weekend they were stone last – but in a miraculous turnaround the Golden Lions could now even host one of the Currie Cup semifinals.

With the last round this weekend reaching new highs, the Lions need to beat the Cheetahs at Ellis Park and hope the Sharks beat Western Province in Durban to go to an unlikely second spot.

But if they go down to the Cheetahs, who could be boosted by their Pro14 stars, they could lose out altogether.

Pending a medical today, non-contracted Lions Boks like fullback Andries Coetzee (right), wing Courtnall Skosan, prop Ruan Dreyer and scrumhalf Ross Cronje could become available, but not hooker Malcolm Marx after he signed a contract with Saru.

Flyhalf Elton Jantjies and lock Franco Mostert will join centre Lionel Mapoe in Japan.

Coach Swys de Bruin was delighted after beating Province 29-20 at Ellis Park and said it was very important they do well at home, saying they are just going out to do what they normally do.

“The young guys in the side are very exciting and the youth system is working very well. Our Under-19s and Under-21s did very well last weekend in Durban to beat the young Sharks there,” he said.

Some of the young guns worth mentioning in the Lions senior side are wing Aphiwe Dyantyi, scrumhalf Marco Janse van Vuren and flankers Len Massyn and Jo Hanko de Villers.

“We used seven of the Under-21s and they still won so it’s looking good for the future,” De Bruin added.

Although there were some concern after the Lions struggled at scrum and lineout, they were disrupted when prop Jacobie Adriaanse was a late withdrawal prior to the Province match.

It forced them to move captain Jacques van Rooyen from loosehead to tighthead, move Dylan Smith from the bench into the starting team as the new loosehead, and add loose forwardcum-lock Robert Kruger on to the bench.

“My message to the youngsters was to just take the shackles off, to play and have fun. See if we can stake a claim for Super Rugby next season and show us they belong in the system,” said De Bruin.