Golden Lions crowned South African champions

JOHANNESBURG – Golden Lions completed a perfect South African Currie Cup rugby season by defeating title-holders Western Province 32-24 in the final at Ellis Park Saturday.

The Johannesburg outfit were first to score, led 22-10 at half-time, and survived late Province pressure to collect a 1.8 million rand (135,000 dollars, 120,000 euros) cheque before a sun-drenched 45 000 crowd.

Lions, none of whose stars made the 31-man Springboks Rugby World Cup squad, won all 10 league matches and survived a semi-final scare against the Cheetahs last weekend.

Coached by former South Africa lock Johan Ackermann, the champions maintained a ball-in-hand game plan throughout an inter-provincial competition first staged 124 years ago.

It worked a treat with the Lions averaging 43 points a match in the 11 leading to a final in which they scored four tries to three from Province.

Two of the winners’ tries came from scrum-half Ross Cronje – his first of the season – that helped earn him the official man-of-the-match award.

Province, who used home advantage in Cape Town to beat the Lions by three points in the 2014 final, had spells of dominance but were less clinical inside the 22-metre line.

They lacked back Damian de Allende and forwards Frans Malherbe, Eben Etzebeth, Schalk Burger and Duane Vermeulen, who face the New Zealand All Blacks later Saturday in a World Cup semi-final in London.

Province had any hope of snatching a dramatic victory dashed a minute from time when a kickable penalty awarded to them was reversed after replacement lock Chris van Zyl committed an illegal ruck clean-out.

The offence led to Van Zyl being sin-binned by Rasta Rasivhenge, at 29 the youngest referee to handle a Currie Cup final.

quot;I have never known a team with such character, quot; boasted Lions skipper and flanker Jaco Kriel, one of those considered most unlucky not the make the World Cup squad.

quot;You are my brothers, you are my family, you are awesome. I love you all. quot;

Province skipper and centre and former Springbok Juan de Jongh was gracious in defeat.

quot;The Lions had a perfect season – they are an awesome bunch of guys and deserved to win today. However, we plan to deliver a different result in the next final, quot; he said.

Lions fly-half Marnitz Boshoff missed two penalty shots before No. 8 Warren Whiteley scored the opening try, followed by two from Cronje.

Boshoff converted twice and kicked a penalty while rival playmaker Robert du Preez scored a try and kicked a conversion and a penalty during the opening half.

Impressive centre Rohan Janse van Rensburg burst over for another Lions try converted by Boshoff two minutes into the second half and the home side were 19 points ahead.

But Province, Currie Cup champions a record 33 times, responded with tries from loose forwards Nizaam Carr and Sikhumbuzo Notshe which Du Preez and his replacement, Kurt Coleman, converted.

Boshoff, the leading Currie Cup scorer this season with 187 points, slotted a penalty between those tries.

Much of the closing play was inside Lions’ territory, but an outstanding defence rarely looked like being breached. – Nampa-AFP