Lions v Sharks - teams and prediction

PREVIEW: Sanele Nohamba v Siya Masuku. Quan Horn v Jordan Hendrikse. Renzo du Plessis v James Venter.

Name your duel, it is set to be a mouthwatering affair when the Lions host the Sharks in the Currie Cup Final at Ellis Park on Saturday.

Nohamba is back to start at No. 10 at the cost of Kade Wolhuter and thinking about his introduction into the semifinal against the Cheetahs last weekend, the diminutive flyhalf made an immediate impact, scoring a try within minutes of taking the field.

Masuku is a steady, more conservative flyhalf but he is solid on defence and his attempts at goal so the Lions will need to be sharp on their discipline.

The last time the Sharks lifted the Currie Cup, was when they beat WP in the 2018 final.

A quick glance into the history of Currie Cup successes for these two teams, sees the Joburg outfit leading their east coast rivals by 11 titles (once shared) to eight, while during the past 10 years, the Durbanites have appeared in four finals, which is one more than the Highvelders.

This season, the Sharks were the only team that managed to inflict a defeat on the Lions – a 35-22 win in the fourth round at the end of July in Johannesburg, which signaled their turnaround after a stuttering start of three straight losses at the start of the campaign.

After winning in Johannesburg in July, the KwaZulu-Natalians stacked up five wins and two draws in an impressive eight-game unbeaten streak, which includes last week’s epic semifinal stalemate with the Bulls in Pretoria.

A closer look at the Sharks side shows why they have been in such great form the past two months. They have successfully integrated several promising youngsters - including a handful of Junior Springboks - with battle-hardened campaigners and several United Rugby Championship stalwarts, which opposing teams have found difficult to handle.

Also, as demonstrated last week, they displayed their mental strength and character by fighting back for a memorable draw at Loftus, despite playing with 12 men at one stage late in the game.

 

The question on everyone’s lips this week was if the 100 minutes of the semifinal will have an effect on the Sharks players.

This week assistant coach Warren Whiteley spoke about this challenge but commented that the players’ energy and wellbeing will be the top priority.

"We’re proud of the effort and character shown in last week’s semifinal and now we’re in the Final – which is really special, a great opportunity for us," Whiteley said.

"We’ve built nicely over the last few weeks.

"The Lions is also a great side. That’s why they’re top of the standings and they’ve proved that throughout the competition," Whiteley said of their opponents.

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The Highvelders, on the other hand, marched impressively towards their home final, winning nine of their regulation games, with the home loss to the Durbanites their only blemish to date.

During that time, the Gauteng team has shown their sharp claws, and they have been menacing on attack, running in 62 tries and conceding only 31 overall. However, the Durbanites showed during last week’s thriller at Loftus they possess a dangerous attacking arsenal themselves.

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Asenathi Ntlabakanye, one of the try scorers last weekend, was adamant that it wasn’t their best performance last weekend against the Cheetahs.

"Our set piece was below par last week so that’s something we need to work on.

"If you look at last week’s semi-final, we scored tries but conceded easy points immediately after that.

"So those are the things we have been working hard on this week in our preparations. All in all, we look forward to Saturday as both players and the fans come out to support the team," the big forward said.

Last 10 Currie Cup Finals:

2023: Cheetahs 25-17 Pumas

2022: Pumas 26-19 Griquas

2021: Bulls 44-10 Sharks

2020: Bulls 26-19 Sharks (after extra time)

2019: Cheetahs 31-28 Lions

2018: Sharks 17-12 Western Province

2017: Western Province 33-21 Sharks

2016: Cheetahs 36-16 Bulls

2015: Lions 32-24 Western Province

2014: Western Province 19-16 Lions

Players to watch:

For the Lions: The inclusion of Sanele Nohamba in the starting line-up is an indication that the Lions want to play a fast, attacking game. His combo with No. 9 Nico Steyn will be crucial but the nimble scrumhalf has been in top form. Others standout players in the Lions team include Springboks Ruan Venter and Quan Horn as well as the top try scorer Renzo du Plessis. Also don’t forget the scrumming power of the Lions headed up by their tryscoring hero Asenthati Ntlabkanye.

For the Sharks: It will most likely be the pivots who will steal the show, so Siya Masuku’s duel with Nohamba will be mouthwatering. The Tshituka brothers head up this challenge in the Currie Cup and as former Lions players, they would be out to make their mark. The same goes for Jordan Hendrikse. Their Springbok centre Andre Esterhuizen has a huge role to play in keeping the midfield safe and keep an eye out for Springbok Jason Jenkins, set to make his debut off the bench.

Side Note: If the scores are level after the playing time of the final, the winning team will be determined as follows:

• the team to have scored the greatest number of points after extra time; and if the score is still level.
• the team to have achieved the higher log position after the completion of the group stage matches.
• "Extra time" means an additional 20 minutes, divided into two halves of 10 minutes each with a one-minute break in between each half.

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Prediction:

@rugby365com: Lions by 7 points

Teams:

Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Rabz Maxwane, 13 Rynhardt Jonker, 12 Marius Louw, 11 Tapiwa Mafura, 10 Sanele Nohamba, 9 Nico Steyn, 8 Jarod Cairns, 7 Ruan Venter, 6 Renzo du Plessis, 5 Darrien Landsberg, 4 Ruben Schoeman, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 Jaco Visagie (captain), 1 Morgan Naude.

Replacements: 16 Morne Brandon, 17 Juan Schoeman, 18 Conrad van Vuuren, 19 Siba Qoma, 20 Raynard Roets, 21 JC Pretorius, 22 Kade Wolhuter, 23 Kelly Mpeku

Sharks: 15 Jordan Hendrikse, 14 Eduan Keyter, 13 Jurenzo Julius, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Ethan Hooker, 10 Siya Masuku, 9 Bradley Davids, 8 Emmanuel Tshituka, 7 Vincent Tshituka (captain), 6 James Venter, 5 Emile van Heerden, 4 Corne’ Rahl, 3 Hanro Jacobs, 2 Fez Mbatha, 1 Ntuthuko Mchunu.

Replacements: 16 Dylan Richardson, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Mawande Mdanda, 19 Jason Jenkins, 20 Gerbrandt Grobler, 21 Tinotenda Mavesere, 22 Tian Meyer, 23 Lionel Cronje.

Date: Saturday, September 21

Venue: Ellis Park, Johannesburg

Kick-off: 16.00 (14.00 GMT)

Referee: Morné Ferreira

Assistant referees: Griffin Colby, Stephan Geldenhuys

TMO: Egon Seconds