Tuesday, November 01, 2011
The Golden Lions beat the Sharks to win the 2011 Currie Cup
The Golden Lions claimed the 2011 Currie Cup after a brilliant performance in the final in Johannesburg on Saturday as they beat the Natal Sharks 42-16 in an entertaining game. It's their first piece of major silverware since 1999.
Coached by Kiwi John Mitchell, the Lions had a fantastic season as they were fairly unaffected by the World Cup and ended top of the table. The Sharks on the other hand missed a lot of key players in the last two months, but when they all returned for the big game, they didn't gel.
"The Lions were, without doubt, the best team on the park and worthy winners of the Currie Cup - we just have to take it on the chin," said Sharks captain Keegan Daniel. "We're disappointed we didn't convert opportunities into points in the first half when we had territory and possession, but you can't win finals with the ill-discipline we showed.
Getting to a final is one thing, but you need to produce a great game, which we couldn't do. The Lions were phenomenal," he added.
It is the Lions' first home victory in a Currie Cup since 1950, so it was a massive moment for the union that lifted the first ever Super Rugby competition, the Super 10, way back in 1993.
Young flyhalf Elton Jantjies was outstanding on the day, kicking everything asked of him and marshalling his troops expertly. He's had the experience and know-how of Carlos Spencer to call on, and it showed. While Sharks fullback Pat Lambie seems to be a long term option for the Springboks number ten slot, Jantjies is tipped by many to be an ideal candidate.
On the other side of things veteran Wickus Van Heerden, who captained the side without success a few years back before moving to the Bulls in search of bigger things, said that it was one of the best experiences of his career. "To see a packed Coca-Cola Park is very special. I know where we have come from as a team, and this is unbelievable," he said. Van Heerden has now won the Vodacom Cup, Currie Cup, Super 14, and the World Cup.
CJ Van Der Linde was yellow carded for a dangerous tackle, which is included below, but that didn't affect the Lions at all as they scored some great tries while Jantjies kept the scoreboard ticking over. Below are highlights of what was a thoroughly enjoyable game of rugby.
Posted at 7:10 pm | 26 comments
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Viewing 26 comments
Juggernauter November 01, 2011 9:47 pm
On a side note, I think that calling Ellis Park "Coca-Cola Park" is crap.
stroudos November 01, 2011 10:28 pm
Van der Linde yellow - if he had brought Daniel to ground safely, wouldn't it have been illegal anyway? Can you clear people out from rucks like that?
Final whistle - is that Pietersen putting in an unnecessary little cheapshot on the Golden Lions scrum-half?
Juggernauter November 01, 2011 10:32 pm
And yeah that's Pietersen at the end. Great player but too prone to making late/high tackles
BuzzKillington November 02, 2011 7:33 am
breakaway November 02, 2011 6:32 am
And yeah, Coca-Cola Park! The horrible power of money.
katman November 02, 2011 9:04 am
This has been a long 12-year wait.
Merja November 02, 2011 10:07 am
katman November 02, 2011 10:10 am
Foitor November 02, 2011 1:08 pm
Stefan November 02, 2011 11:27 am
Pretzel November 02, 2011 1:33 pm
Can anyone give any reference to the actual technique of clearing a ruck like he did? I mean I play second row, or back row, and have rolled people to the side, driven them off the ball, or grabbed their shirt and pulled them my side when they bridge, but never flipped someone like this.... I mean the landing itself was pretty "safe" but surely those studs up in the air like that could cause significant damage if they hit another player, so surely the act of flipping him like that was pretty bad no?
Tbh, CJ looked like he was always asking for trouble at that ruck, look at the way he comes in, his right arm is tucked in and he drives his shoulder into the players back....
RE pieterson the clothesliner, yeh, I wonder why he hasn't had a significant ban yet...
Juggernauter November 02, 2011 7:02 pm
Something for the kiwis to learn from the saffas!
katman November 02, 2011 8:45 pm
tumeke November 03, 2011 1:40 am
1) The ITM cup final was 1 week b4 rwc kicked off. (wont be the same next year)
2) All rugby fans had pretty much spent there wages/allowances on rwc tickets (notice all those sold out minnow games).
3) Hamilton is just a city for farmers to go shopping its the a**hole of NZ and usually has pretty bad weather (5/6 chiefs home games in super rugby 2011 were in terential rain).
Its hard to compare crowds at a stadium in a country with 50 million against a country with 4 million.
UHtiger November 03, 2011 4:16 am
That aside i'd say that a lot were saving for the world cup as well.
katman November 03, 2011 11:21 am
And probably a lot more than half.
Pretzel November 03, 2011 2:54 pm
UHtiger November 03, 2011 8:52 pm
breakaway November 04, 2011 1:42 am
The Currie Cup is the oldest competition of its type in rugby and has a long tradition dating back to 1889.. every final carries all the prestige and significance that can only be earned over time. The ITM Cup only dates back to 2006 when it started out as the Air New Zealand Cup. For all its importance as the current inter-provincial comp in NZ it just doesn't get the juices going in the same way.
However the Ranfurly Shield, first played for in 1904, is steeped in a tradition of legendary games and incidents. Run on an unusual challenge system it's survived all the changes to the sport over the decades to remain, for most people, the most important prize in NZ provincial rugby. The Shield has never had trouble getting crowds and in the most recent game where Taranaki held onto the Shield against Hawke's Bay, it attracted about 18,000 in a city of about 65,000. The Shield record is 52,000 for a 1985 Auckland challenge against Canterbury in Christchurch.
Pretzel November 04, 2011 12:13 pm
breakaway November 05, 2011 3:57 am
Doesn't change the point that it's mostly a journalistic cliche whether it's about rugby in NZ or in any other rugby stronghold, football (soccer) in any of the zillion places in the world where it dominates sport and much of society, cricket in India, or anywhere that a particular sport is woven into the culture. Nobody's saying that rugby isn't very important in NZ, it's just that the whole "religion" metaphor tends to distort things at times.
UHtiger November 03, 2011 8:46 pm
cheyanqui November 04, 2011 11:34 pm
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