Currie Cup – praag.org

Cheetahs played full 80 minutes to win: Prinsloo

Free State Cheetahs captain Boom Prinsloo praised his side for playing the full 80 minutes to beat the Golden Lions 26-23 in their Currie Cup game in the Free State stadium in Bloemfontein on Friday.

The hosts are now second on the logm pending the results of Saturday’s other Currie Cup games between Griquas and the Sharks and the Blue Bulls and Western Province, but for the time being eighth-man Prinsloo,is relieved that his team stood their ground for victory.

The Cheetahs nearly squandered a half time lead of 23-3 and gave the Lions ample chance to make a come back, with a penalty by Cheetahs winger Riaan Smit the only difference.

“We made it very difficult for ourselves in the second half, but I am glad that the guys kept their cool and did not lose their concentration. In the end we finished well,” said Prinsloo.

“This Lions team never gives up. Credit must go to my team mates for playing untill the final whistle. I am really proud of the effort they put in.”

The Cheetahs looked impressive in the line outs, but struggled in the scrums with Lions Springbok front rower CJ van der Linde an important factor.

“Our lineouts improved a lot since last week after we worked hard on it in our preparation, but our scrums weren’t up to scratch. We are still struggling a bit with the timing and the new calls, but we need to rectify that this coming week,” Prinsloo added.

“Next week we play the Sharks. It is always tough to travel to Durban. But if we can build on the momentum we now have after beating the Lions we can not only beat the Sharks in their own back yard, but really finish well this season,” Prinsloo added.

The Lions followed their lacklustre performance in the first half with a stellar 40 minutes in the second, but in the end good tries by winger Anthony Volmink and replacement full back Ruan Nel were not enough to see the visitors travel back to Johannesburg with a win.

“We struggled to get into our rhythm in the first half and made it very difficult for ourselves. The guys really pitched in the second half, but we can’t just play rugby in the second 40 minutes, we have to play the full game, something we did not do against the Cheetahs. It is really something we need to work on,” Lions flanker and captain Derick Minnie said. – Sapa

Lions maul Bulls 62-23

Josh Strauss, supported by Derek Minnie, of the Lions in action against the Bulls during a Super Rugby match last year

The Golden Lions secured their second victory over the Blue Bulls at Loftus Versfeld with an emphatic 62-23 triumph in a Currie Cup match on Saturday.

The visitors ran in eight tries to two for the Bulls, while Lions flyhalf Marnitz Boshoff also played a central role with a 100 percent kicking record converting all eight tries and slotting over two more penalties.

After last weekend’s snore fest, the Loftus faithful were treated to an action-packed Jukskei Derby in the Capital City.

The scoreboard ticked over for the first time four minutes after the start and continued do that almost every five minutes.

Bulls flyhalf Tony Jantjies opened the scoring with a penalty conversion, while his opposite number Boshoff replied with a penalty goal two minutes later.

The hosts again made the first move in terms of crossing the whitewash when Travis Ismail scored in the left-hand corner after a good passage of play, with Jantjies missing the conversion.

Five minutes later the Lions responded with a devastating driving maul from a lineout with Jaco Kriel scoring from the back.

In a typical tit-for-tat battle, it was the turn of the Bulls to cross the line, with fullback Jurgen Visser adding a five-pointer, but failing to convert his own try.

Just before the half-hour the Lions trailed by three points before flanker Willie Britz picked up a fumbled Bulls ball and showed a burst of speed to advance to within five metres of the line with Deon Helberg fielding to go over the lin.

Visser brought his side within a point of the Lions before Boshoff had the last say of the half with a penalty conversion to give his side a four-point lead going into the break.

The Bulls made an encouraging start to the second half thanks to a superb break by Clayton Blommetjies, who gave a well-weighted pass to Francois Venter for the score, with Visser converting.

The game, however, swung in the Lions’ favour when Bulls prop was given a yellow card in the 49th minute for a repeated offence.

A minute later Man-of-the-Match Britz scored his second try of the match after another rolling maul by the Lions.

Lions captain Derick Minnie scored his side’s bonus-point try four minutes later after some great interplay between Anthony Volmink and Britz.

The rampage continued unabated as the Bulls could not plug the holes with Minnie adding his second five-pointer in the 59th minute, while Volmink broke the Bulls’ spirit with an intercept try seven minutes later.

The Bulls’ suffering was far from over as the Lions added two more tries with Warwick Tecklenburg adding his name to the scorers, while Volmink gave up his second try to Elton Jantjies bringing their try fest to an end four minutes from time.

Scorers: Blue Bulls 23 (16): Tries: Travis Ismaiel, Jurgen Visser, Francois Venter.

Conversion: Visser.

Golden Lions 62 (20): Tries: Willie Britz (2), Deon Helberg, Derick Minnie (2), Anthony Volmink, Warwick Tecklenburg, Elton Jantjies. Conversions: Marnitz Boshoff (8). Penalties: Boshoff (2). – Sapa

New Sharks recruit SP Marais has Springbok ambitions

New Sharks recruit SP Marais said it was not easy leaving Port Elizabeth for Durban, following his recent switch from the Southern Kings, but felt the move was necessary for his long-term ambitions.

The 24-year-old was the biggest pre-Currie Cup signing for the KwaZulu-Natal side and their new coaching staff.

Marais revealed on Tuesday he turned down offers from the Bulls and Cheetahs following his former team’s relegation from Super Rugby.

“There were a few options but I had to look at the bigger picture,” he said.

“I had to make a sound decision and, for any rugby player, the most important thing is your game time and that was one of the big factors that brought me here.”

The Cape Town-born player made a successful start with the Sharks scoring a match-winning try on debut against the Lions last Friday.

“As you see, I’ve been here a week and already got the opportunity,” Marais said.

“I need to use these opportunities now, so that when Super Rugby comes around next year, I’ve already found my place here.

“The first game was good, but it was more about the team winning and I’m glad I was part of that.”

His decision to leave Eastern Province was based on his ultimate goal to play for the Springboks.

“If you want to go further and into the green and gold, then this is the way to do it.

“So it was time for me to move and I’m very happy to be here.”

Marais credited Alan Zondagh, former Western Cape coach and founder of the Rugby Performance Center (RPC), as well as ex-Springbok assistant Alan Solomons, who recently left the Kings, for enhancing his development.

“The two of them played quite a big role in my career,” he said.

The Sharks on Tuesday confirmed Jacques Botes would stay on as captain for the competition, despite the return of Keegan Daniel.

The regular skipper missed the opening two games of the campaign with a knee injury, but would be back this week, said backs coach Sean Everitt.

“We want to keep Jacques as captain just for continuity purposes,” Everitt said. “

Just because it’s a new group, with new coaches, the more continuity you have the better. He’s done really well and we want him to continue.”

Daniel would wear the number six jersey instead of Brynard Stander, who was ruled out due to a ligament problem.

Odwa Ndungane and Tim Whitehead (ankle and rib) were also out — the former after sustaining a hamstring injury on Friday, although Sizo Maseko, Jean Deysel and Marco Wentzel have all been passed fit to play. – Sapa

Bees Roux returns to rugby while black family forgives him

Bees Roux will soon join the Golden Lions rugby team, while the family of the black metro policeman he had killed in Pretoria, Johannes Nshimane Mogale, had “forgiven him unconditionally”.

In 2010 the rugby player beat the 38-year old sergeant to death in Hatfield and the following year he received a suspended sentence of 5 years in prison. Among the conditions of his plea bargain was as payment of R750 000 in compensation to the Mogale family.

Lions coach Johann Ackermann confirmed on Monday that Roux (31) would most likely be included as prop in the team during the coming Currie Cup season. According to Manie Booysen, the chief executive of the Golden Lions Rugby Union (GLRU), there was “technically no impediment to choosing Bees. It will be a pity if people saw his involvement in the wrong light. The chap has shown remorse.”

“We are selecting him for rugby and no other reason. He is a prop that is available coming back from abroad,” Ackermann said.

“We are in a tight spot as there are no other players that are not under contract, so we’ll pull him into the group and see how he goes.”

The Lions coach said letters in which the Mogale family offered their forgiveness to Roux had made the decision easier to look at the player.

“We have two letters dating to 2011 and 2013 where the parents and the family personally give their blessing to him to play rugby and they even want him to play for South Africa,” Ackermann said.

“This gave us somewhat of a positive outlook because they (the family) are willing to forgive and forget and to give him a second chance in life.”

A month after he pleaded guilty the Blue Bulls Rugby Union sacked Roux for breach of contract and he later took up a contract with French club the Bordeaux Eagles.

In 2012 he joined Italian team Treviso until the end of the European season this year, while he also featured in the South African Barbarians team in a match against Saracens in May.

Fresh off securing their place in the 2014 Super Rugby competition through a superior points difference to the Southern Kings in their two leg promotion-relegation matches, the Lions are facing a crisis at prop.

Captain JC Janse van Rensburg, who was the main anchor in the front row for the Lions has left the team for Bayonne in France, while Julian Redelinghuys suffered a long-term injury over the weekend.

“We are looking to borrow another prop from somewhere as we actually only have three fit props in Ruan Dreyer, Jacques van Rooyen and CJ van der Linde,” Ackermann said. – Sapa and praag