Lions to avoid vicious attack from Sharks

The Lions will be out to restore their pride when they take on Cell C Sharks over the weekend.

After losing out on gaining valuable Vodacom Super Rugby points when the Lions went down to the Crusaders last weekend, the local team will be out to regain their home ground advantage and notch up a win.

The Lions will play Cell C Sharks at Ellis Park on Saturday April12. The kick-off is at 19:10.

It’s the only South African derby of round nine, where the Lions will take on table-topping Cell C Sharks, and could be a humdinger of a match.

Vodacom Bulls will continue their Australasian tour with a tricky encounter against the Highlanders in Dunedin, and the Toyota Cheetahs host the seven-time champion Crusaders in Bloemfontein.

The weekend kicked off on Friday morning with the Vodacom Bulls taking on the Highlanders in Dunedin – a venue where they have not won since 2007.

At the Free State Stadium, the Crusaders will be aiming to repeat their win over the Lions from last weekend, which incidentally was the first by any team this season crossing the Indian Ocean.

At Ellis Park though, the Lions will be aiming to repeat their shock win from June 2012, when they upset the Cell C Sharks by 38-28 in Joburg, which put a serious dent in the Durbanites’ hopes of hosting a semi-final that season.

The KwaZulu-Natalians did fight back later that season and reached the final against all odds, but on June 2, the Lions recorded one of their most famous victories, scoring their fourth try shortly before half-time, which basically sealed the win.

The DHL Stormers have a bye this weekend, as Vodacom Bulls prop Werner Kruger will become the 26th South African Vodacom Super Rugby centurion in Dunedin.

Kruger, who made his debut in the opening round in 2008 against the DHL Stormers in Cape Town, has gone on to anchor the Vodacom Bulls’ scrum in two championship winning campaigns and play four Tests for the Springboks.

He played in 99 of the Vodacom Bulls’ last 100 matches – 40 and then 59 consecutively – only missing out in 2010 when the Pretorians went to Cape Town with a so-called “B-team”.

Kruger is a very good scrummager and someone who is never shy to do the donkey work on the field. He will become only the fifth SA front ranker to reach 100 appearances at this level, following in the footsteps of John Smit, Jannie and Bismarck du Plessis and Ollie le Roux.

It will be a special weekend for Cell C Sharks winger Odwa Ndungane as well, who will play his 100th match for the Durbanites. He also has ten Vodacom Bulls caps to his name.

The full list of South African Vodacom Super Rugby centurions (players still in action in bold):

130: Victor Matfield (Cats 8, Bulls 122)

125: AJ Venter (Cats 19, Sharks 96, Stormers 10) and John Smit (Sharks)

123: Morné Steyn (Bulls)

122: Stefan Terblanche (Sharks)

120: Jannie du Plessis (Cheetahs 26, Sharks 92)

118: Bryan Habana (Bulls 61, Stormers 57)

116: Danie Rossouw (Bulls)

114: Jacques Botes (Sharks)

113: Pedrie Wannenburg (Bulls), Adi Jacobs (Bulls 21, Cats 4, Sharks 88)

112: Fourie du Preez (Bulls)

110: Wynand Olivier (Bulls)

109: Odwa Ndungane (Bulls 10, Sharks 99), Bismarck du Plessis (Sharks)

108: Ollie le Roux (Natal 24, Sharks 60, Cats 3, Cheetahs 21), Meyer Bosman (Cheetahs 61, Sharks 47)

104: Andries Bekker (Stormers), Jano Vermaak (Cats 11, Lions 62, Bulls 31)

103: Pierre Spies (Bulls)

102: Albert van den Berg (Cats 7, Sharks 95)

102: Akona Ndungane (Bulls), Jean de Villiers (Stormers)

101: JP Pietersen (Sharks)

100: Bakkies Botha (Bulls)

Lions v Cell C Sharks

It’s the top goal kicking side against the top points scorers at Ellis Park, when the Lions host the Cell C Sharks. The Lions, with a magnificent success rate of 92 per cent, have been setting the pace this season when it comes to goal kicking, with their flyhalf Marnitz Boshoff also the first player to reach 100 season points in 2014.

Furthermore, the Joburgers’ scrum success rate – incidentally also at 92 per cent – is also a joint-high in the competition. But they will face a different beast (‘scuse the pun) against the Cell C Sharks this weekend against an all-Springbok front row and a pack boasting seven Boks.

Built on the platform created by their pack, the Cell C Sharks have averaged a competition high of 30.2 points per game this season. They also boast the best defensive record, conceding just 16.8 points and 1.3 tries per game so far.

Lions coach Johan Ackermann said his team will not necessarily take a more conservative approach on Saturday, but they would look at correcting the mistakes they made last week against the Crusader: “We don’t want to lose our adventurous side, but we need to know when to play conservatively. We need to get the right balance of kicking and passing.”

However, Jake White, the Cell C Sharks’ Director of Rugby, realises it will be tough against the Lions on Saturday, especially upfront, where they’ve done very well.

“The Lions’ forward pack has been outstanding and I think Johan Ackermann has done a fantastic job,” said White.

“Their front row was supposedly young players who’ve come along and staked a claim. That’s just three players in a whole team, but it epitomises everybody in that group: no-namers who have really stuck their hands up and played above themselves.

“They have a lot of pace in the backline and a lot of skills, and the fact that Elton Jantjies, a Springbok, isn’t in their starting line-up, proves that they’re obviously quite comfortable with the way they’re playing. The last time we played them, Elton started against us. Now he’s not in the mix, so it will be a completely different challenge for us.”

The teams are:

Lions: Andries Coetzee, Deon van Rensburg, Lionel Mapoe, Stefan Watermeyer, Courtnall Skosan, Marnitz Boshoff, Faf de Klerk, Warren Whiteley (captain), Willie Britz, Derick Minnie, Franco Mostert, Martin Muller, Julian Redelinghuys, Willie Wepener, Schalk van der Merwe. Replacements: Robbie Coetzee, Corné Fourie, Ruan Dreyer, MB Lusaseni, Jaco Kriel, Ross Cronje, Elton Jantjies, Alwyn Hollenbach.

Cell C Sharks: Lwazi Mvovo, Odwa Ndungane, S’bura Sithole, Frans Steyn, JP Pietersen, Fred Zeilinga, Charl McLeod, Ryan Kankowski, Jean Deysel, Marcell Coetzee, Stephan Lewies, Willem Alberts, Jannie du Plessis, Bismarck du Plessis (captain), Tendai Mtawarira. Replacements: Kyle Cooper, Dale Chadwick, Lourens Adriaanse, Ettienne Oosthuizen, Keegan Daniel, Stefan Ungerer, Paul Jordaan, SP Marais.