What makes this years final interesting is there will be no Blue it's Red and Black and the top two teams in this years tournament. The Blue Bulls never even made the Semi-Finals and a Springbok laden Western Province was comprehensively beaten last weekend by the Lions. These two have 55 Currie Cup Trophies between them (4 shared each) so its a rarity to not have at least one of them in the final.
I think the favourites for Saturdays contest is the Golden Lions. Maybe not on paper because yes the Sharks have 7 current Springboks but as WP found out last week its continuity not Springboks that win you matches and though the Sharks have had an extra week to work on their continuity and the fact that they will be in Johannesburg not Durban I still see them tagged underdogs.
Let's have a short look at statistics the Lions and Sharks have played 14 won 10 and have a points difference of 102, log points scored is 50 for the Lions and 48 for the Sharks, it couldn't be more close. We know the defending champions are the Sharks and its only the sixth time the Durban outfit have been crowned champions. The Twentieth Century has been some what barren time for Lions rugby fans having been the last team to win the Currie Cup in Nineteenth Century in 1999(their last time they won it), twelve years ago and they have been champions on 9 ocassions (1 shared).
Two New Zealander's find themselves in yet another final but only one of them can win this time. Quotes from them this week :
John Mitchell : “I’m constantly vigilant against individuality, I guess it’s my strength as a coach and a key part of my philosophy,” he said. “The Sharks may have a lot of Springboks in their side, but national jumpers don't matter in the final, they're playing in different jerseys.” And “The advantage line will be pretty important both on attack and defence. So the accuracy at the set-piece is very critical, a team has the ability to create pressure there. It starts with the tight five, we need to feed off their platform”.
Johm Plumtree: “When we won the trophy last year, we were lucky enough to have the same team take us through the Currie Cup right to the end. It was a really cohesive unit that we had last year," he said
“This year we always had one eye on the Springboks coming back. They’ve all had great attitudes, they want to retain this trophy, they are totally committed." and “John Mitchell hasn’t had those sort of challenges. The challenge for us is that we have got to gel as a team right from the first whistle. That’s something that we’ve talked about. The Lions have been playing well with that group all year,” Plumtree admitted.
The desperation of not winning anything for 12 years is motivation enough for the Lions team to bring it this Saturday, where the Sharks having won three of the last four years will be hungry for more success. That's said I expect a titanic battle between the unity of the Lions 'family' and the individual brilliance of the Sharks.
I must be honest until this year I never knew who Wikus van Heerden, Franco van der Merwe, Derick Minnie, Michael Rhodes and Joshua Strauss were but they have been impressive to say the least in 2011 and I expect them to turn up Saturday. The Sharks on the other hand have to many "names" to mention with the all Bok front row of Du Plessis brothers & Beast, the amazing young 21 year old Pat Lambie (I should stop calling him young after single handedly winning last years final), wings JP, Odwa, Lwazi and the experienced Freddie on paper are fantastic and you would agree quite a frightening bunch but reputation counts for nothing inside those four lines called a rugby field.
Both teams will be fired up for different reasons and I can't wait for the fireworks to begin. Though I support the Sharks and hope they prove me wrong but the most consistent team of the two this season is by far the Lions hence them ending log leaders and it would surprise me if they don't win. The Lions have their very own "Player 23" the Johannesburg fans that will be out in full voice and on that you can depend, especially after them sticking by their trophy-less team for so long.
I don't have a score prediction but the smart money is on the home side. (I hope I'm wrong)
Jade Christopher Bentley Adams (JCBA)
Comments4jcba@gmail.com if u want to comment password is jadeadams
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