Johannesburg - The Blue Bulls and Western Province made significant strides towards securing themselves places in the Currie Cup semi-finals with hard-fought wins over the Golden Lions and the Sharks respectively over the weekend.
Playing in derbies steeped with emotion and sentiment, it was the lesser-fancied hosts that emerged victorious as the Bulls handed the Lions their second defeat of the season while Western Province ended the Sharks' four-match unbeaten run.
The Bulls' 31-17 win on Friday night at Loftus Versfeld elevated them to third place on the log and with three fixtures remaining against the Pumas, Griquas and Boland Cavaliers, Nollis Marais’ team have a lot to be confident about with their road towards the semi-finals firmly in their hands.
And they took ownership of their performance against the Lions as they dominated all facets of play from the scrums and line-outs to the uncertain breakdowns and making the best of the opportunities created.
It was always going to be important for the remainder of their campaign that the Bulls bounced back quickly from their defeat against the Sharks in Durban the week before but more significantly, the men in blue needed the points to stay amongst the leading pack and not have their fate decided by other teams.
In their performance against the defending champions, Marais’ team played with a lot of maturity and showed glimpses of a team that can challenge for top honours.
“I’m happy with the win. We’ve been battling for four games, trying to put the things together. I think on Friday we had a good performance even though we still made a few mistakes but it was a great team effort getting a win against the Currie Cup champions. The four points are important for us,” said Marais.
While the Bulls have climbed up to third place on the log, Lions coach Johan Ackermann is a worried man going into their next three fixtures which will all but determine if the Lions will be able to defend their title.
Even though the Lions have stayed in fifth spot on the log, they have been surpassed by Griquas and are on the same number of points as Western Province, who they host on Friday night at Ellis Park.
“It wasn’t a good enough performance, starting with the kick-off where we conceded three points and from there we never played. The game was filled with too many mistakes, handling errors, turnover line-outs and we lacked accuracy. We’ve got a lot of hard work ahead if we want to turn the tables. Western Province would have taken a lot of confidence out of our loss and say anything is possible. So we haven’t made it easy for ourselves and we will need to step up,” Ackermann said.
John Dobson’s men will undoubtedly take a lot of confidence from downing the Sharks and even though they were dealt a big blow with injuries to Scarra Ntobeni and Sikhumbuzo Notshe in the game, they will look to exploit some of the Lions' vulnerabilities as they go in search of another win.
“Hopefully there is a lot of doubt because it is a tough place to win. Our biggest issue has been confidence, it had been a horrendous week and the pressure was enormous. We knew we had the talent but the guys became used to losing. It was all about getting confidence and now it is a very happy change-room so I think that will help turn it around,” Dobson said of his side’s steady performance in overcoming the Sharks.
The Free State Cheetahs quietly went about their business in keeping their place in the top two teams with a 57-25 demolition of the Eastern Province Kings in Bloemfontein on Saturday.
The Cheetahs now find themselves one point behind the table-topping Sharks who they ironically play against this coming Saturday in Durban.
The Pumas continued to bleed points as they suffered yet another close defeat, 25-22, this time against the Boland Cavaliers in Wellington on Friday.
Results
Western Province 34, Sharks 27;
Cheetahs 57, EP Kings 25;
Blue Bulls 31, Golden Lions 17;
Boland Cavaliers 25, Pumas 22.
Fixtures
Thursday: Griquas v Boland Cavaliers, Griqua Park 7pm
Friday: Lions v WP, Ellis Park 7pm
Saturday: Sharks v Cheetahs, King’s Park 5pm;
Pumas v Blue Bulls, Mbombela Stadium 7.10pm
The Star