Lions score a big bonus in Bloem

The defending champion Golden Lions secured their second consecutive bonus-point win away from home when they beat the Free State Cheetahs  38-23 in their Currie Cup clash in Bloemfontein on Saturday.

The result saw the Lions move to the top of the standings, at least till the completion of the final match of the weekend.

How did they do it? How on earth did the Golden Lions win? Look at the statistics and scratch your head in wonder. The Golden Lions had 21% of possession in the second half and 26% of the territory. They had a penalty count of 20-8 against them and they had a man in the sin bin - and they won. They won the second half 18-7. Either they played like supermen or the Free State Cheetahs were abysmal on attack.

It certainly was a remarkable achievement to win with a bonus point when all the statistics were against them. There clearly is something special in this Golden Lions team. Asked about what drove them to make over 130 tackles, not to concede a point while Franco van der Merwe was in the sin bin, captain JC Janse van Rensburg said: "It's just because we care for each other that the guys put in a brilliant defensive effort." Therein lies the essence of good team spirit.

It's not as if they only defended. The Golden Lions attacked whenever they had the slightest chance.

Isn't the Currie Cup wonderful?

There was an unusual occurrence during the game. Both teams wore jerseys that were predominantly white. The Golden Lions had a red band around the chest and the Cheetahs had small chips of orange. After 13 minutes, the referee stopped the game and the Cheetahs players went off to the sideline where orange jerseys were neatly laid out and they changed jerseys. It was a really good idea!

The Golden Lions started the scoring and that was inside the first minute when Andries Strauss was penalised at a tackle and Elton Jantjies goaled. He carried on goaling. At one stage he had kicked seven out of seven, then he missed two to prove his humanity.

Heinrich Brüssow was the next penalised. 6-0 after 5 minutes. Wing Nico Scheepers has taken over the kicking for the Cheetahs and has proved most reliable. He goaled when Willie Britz was penalised at a tackle. 6-3 after 8 minutes.

After the kick-off the Cheetahs tried to move the ball from near their own line. Flyhalf Tewis de Bruyn threw a flat pass towards his left and big Franco van der Merwe intercepted and scored under the posts. 13-3 after 9 minutes.

A penalty to the Cheetahs gave them a five-metre line-out and they bashed till strong Marcel van der Merwe powered his way through four defenders to score.

After all of this had happened, the first scrum was awarded - after 22 minutes of the match. In fact the Golden Lions did not put the ball into a single scrum in the whole of the first half.

This was a time of increasing Cheetah dominance and Golden Lion resistance. The Cheetahs went through many phases till Jantjies was penalised for a high tackle and Scheepers levelled the scores at 13-all. The Cheetahs actually went ahead when Britz was penalised for being offside but just before half-time the Golden Lions scored an exquisite try.

From a deep throw in a line-out on their left and a quick delivery, Michael Bondesio passed to Jantjies who immediately flicked the pass inside to Ruan Combrinck who raced through, wrong-footing Scheepers, to score. 20-16, which was the half-time score.

The start to the second half looked harmless enough as the Golden Lions came right till Lionel Mapoe stepped and accelerated between Brüssow and Izak van der Westhuizen to break clean through. Challenged by De Bruyn he gave Deon Helberg a free 23 metres to run for the try. 27-16 inside a minute of the second half.

Early in the half, Franco van der Merwe was sin-binned for a maul offence and then the Golden Lions really tackled with aggression. The Cheetahs spent the time on the attack, at one stage going through 19 phases. The Cheetahs actually 'scored' but when the TMO was consulted he advised that the passer's hands had been going forward. It would happen again in the last move of the match when Hennie Daniller 'scored'.

Just before Franco van der Merwe came back., Jantjies goaled a penalty when Lappies Labuschagne was penalised twice in quick succession. The Cheetahs kicked the kick-off out on the full which resulted in a scrum at the middle of the half-way line. The Cheetahs were penalised at the scrum and from there Jantjies goaled. 33-16 after 62 minutes.

Penalties gave the Cheetahs a five-metre line-out and then a five-metre scrum and then a tap from five metres away and the Golden Lions stood firm till from close quarters Marcel van der Merwe bashed over for his second try. 33-23 with 10 minutes to play.

The Golden Lions got the ball and out it went to Jaco Taute who ran strongly but across the field. He gave to Cobus Grobbelaar on his left. The veteran flank cut back inside, taking out two defenders before sending Combrinck racing over for his second try. That try gave the Golden Lions a bonus point.

The Cheetahs came close but Butch James tackled Scheepers out at the corner and then the TMO's ruled a forward pass after the siren.

Man of the Match: You could pick anybody from the heroic Golden Lions but if you chose one it would be Elton Jantjes for his brilliant kicking, the try he made and the long distance kicks that kept the Cheetah from the goal. He was splendid.

Scorers:

For the Free State Cheetahs:

Tries: M van der Merwe 2

Cons:  Scheepers 2

Pens:  Scheepers 3

For the Golden Lions:

Tries: F van der Merwe, Combrinck 2, Helberg

Cons: Jantjies 3

Pens: Jantjies 4

Yellow card: Franco van der Merwe (Golden Lion, 49 - repeated infringements at the breakdown)

Teams:

Free Sate Cheetahs: 15 Hennie Daniller, 14 Nico Scheepers, 13 Robert Ebersohn (Captain, 12 Andries Strauss, 11 Raymond Rhule, 10 Tewis du Bruyn, 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Hendro Scholtz, 7 Lappies Labuschagne, 6 Heinrich Brüssow, 5 Izak van der Westhuizen (Vice Captain), 4 Francois Uys, 3 Marcel van der Merwe, 2 Hercu Liebenberg, 1 Schalk van der Merwe.

Replacements: 16 Elandré Huggett, 17 Ross Geldenhuys, 18 Carl Wegner, 19 Davon Raubenheimer, 20 Sias Ebersohn, 21 Phillip Snyman, 22 Rayno Benjamin.

Golden Lions: 15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Deon Helberg, 13 Lionel Mapoe, 12 Alwyn Hollenbach, 11 Ruan Combrinck, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Michael Bondesio, 8 Warren Whiteley, 7 Willie Britz, 6 Cobus Grobbelaar, 5 Franco Van der Merwe, 4 Hendrik Roodt, 3 Jacobie Adriaanse, 2 Callie Visagie, 1 JC Janse van Rensburg (captain).

Replacements: 16 Bandise Maku, 17 Ruan Dreyer, 18 Etienne Oosthuizen, 19 Michael Rhodes, 20 Ross Cronje, 21 Butch James, 22 Jaco Taute.

Referee: Sindile Mayende

Assistants: Quinton Immelman, Stefan Breytenbach

TMO: Gerrie Coetzee