Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Battle of the big cats as Lions and Cheetahs chase semi-finals
IT’S not often that an opposition team come to Ellis Park and are deemed the favourites, but that’s what the Cheetahs are today when they arrive to take on the Lions in a final round Currie Cup clash, kicking off at 5.15pm.
The defending champions from Bloemfontein may not have the best record in Joburg, but they’ll be boosted today by being able to include several Super Rugby stars in their squad – and the fact these men have been playing in a competition that is certainly stronger and more competitive than the Currie Cup.
With the Europe- based Pro14 competition on a twoweek break, the Cheetahs have been able to include the likes of Raymond Rhule, Rosko Specman, Nico Lee, William SmallSmith, Makazole Mapimpi, Tian Meyer, Oupa Mohoje, Paul Schoeman, Henco Venter, Johan Coetzee and Torsten van Jaarsveld in their team for the Lions match.
But it is not so much the better quality players the Lions have to fear because they, too, are bolstered by the availability of four Springboks players – namely Malcolm Marx, Ross Cronje, Courtnall Skosan and Andries Coetzee – but the standard of rugby the Cheetahs have been subjected to in the last month.
Lions boss Swys de Bruin concedes the visitors will be the favourites today. “The fact they’ve been playing in the Pro14 definitely counts in their favour,” said De Bruin about the Cheetahs.
“It’s interesting how this year they can pick their best one week and not the next ... but it might come back to bite them because in two weeks, should they qualify for the final, they’ll again have to change because the Pro14 is back in action then.“It’s been a very up and down competition for us, because we started four weeks later than the other teams,” said De Bruin, making the point the Currie Cup got going while the Lions’ best were still involved in the Super Rugby playoffs.
“But there’s no pressure on the players to have to win ... that wouldn’t be fair on them
“I just want us to keep playing and to inspire our fans. There’s a lot of excitement with the Bok players back and that’s encouraging.”
It promises to be a very interesting clash, with several changes being made in both outfits, meaning there is some real star quality on show for a change. The fact there’s a place in the Currie Cup semifinals at stake just adds to the intrigue and drama.
With the Bulls and Pumas having played last night and the Sharks and Western Province kicking off at 3pm the Lions and Cheetahs players will know exactly what they need to do to still be playing rugby next week.