The Boland Cavaliers showed their Currie Cup mettle on Sunday as they subdued the Lions with excellent defence and a powerful scrummaging and lineout performance to claim a vital 29-10 bonus-point victory in Wellington.
After two good wins, the Johannesburg side looked a shadow of the team they had been in the previous games, losing the physical battle, faltering in the lineouts, missing numerous tackles, and spilling their ball at scrum time.
It was their counterparts who looked more dangerous, and the shock win in front of their home fans will give the Bolanders plenty of confidence as they continue a bright start to the tournament.
Despite losing their captain early in the game, and copping a yellow card in the first five minutes, the Cavaliers started the game off well and the two tries through winger Donavan Don, who has become a try-scoring sensation early in the competition, put the side in the driving seat. And they never gave up that dominance, taking a 15-5 lead into halftime.
Last weekend, against Griquas, they also led at halftime but gave it up to eventually lose.
However, this time around, the star-studded Lions couldnโt muster up anything to disturb the rhythm of their hosts and the supporters at Boland Stadium were treated to a brilliant game by their side. Yes, there were plenty of errors that they can improve on, but despite that, they shut the Lions down.
While it was an excellent team effort โ something head coach Hawies Fourie will be proud of โ a few of the Cavaliers players spearheaded the win.
Two of them turned back the clock: 37-year-old hooker Sydney Tobias and 35-year-old scrumhalf Louis Schreuder. Eighth man Thurlow Marsh, who stole a couple of lineout balls, tighthead prop Dayaan van der Westhuizen, who emulated Richie McCaw with his ball stealing at the breakdown, and flyhalf Ashlon Davids also played out of their skin.
The sharp attacking play of Davids, buoyed by Schreuderโs speed behind the ruck, carved the Lionsโ defence up a couple of times when the ball came down the backline.
Winger Xavier Mitchell and replacement Juan Mostert completed the try-scoring in the second half to seal the bonus point for the hosts.
The lacklustre performance of the Lions will have frustrated their coach, Mziwakhe Nkosi. He warned early in the week that they canโt take the Bolanders lightly, and their lack of intensity and accuracy suggests that his words did not sink in properly with his side.
The loss will show the other teams that the Lions, playing with an almost full-strength side, are not unbeatable. They were put under immense pressure in almost every department of the game and were never allowed to get a foothold in it.
But this loss will be a massive wake-up call early. They will know exactly where they went wrong and what to fix as they continue to chase Currie Cup glory.
Points scorers: Boland Cavaliers 29 (15): Tries: Donavan Don (2), Xavier Mitchell, Juan Mostert. Conversions: James Tedder (3). Penalty: Tedder. Lions 10 (5): Tries: Kade Wolhuter, Gianni Lombard.
