The Lions arguably enter the 2026 Currie Cup season as one of the favourites to lift the coveted old trophy and will be keen to fulfil the promise of the last two seasons prior, where they came desperately short of claiming the championship.
Last year, the Joburgers were exceptional during the league phase to finish top of the Cup standings, only to succumb in the final to a late penalty kick in a 27-25 loss to eventual champions the Griquas. A year earlier, a similar script unfolded as the Lions lost to the Sharks—also with a last-gasp penalty.
Although the Doornfontein-based side fell agonisingly short at the final hurdle, Lions coach Mzwakhe Nkosi does not view those seasons negatively, as the side prepares to start the new season on Sunday against the Free State Cheetahs (kick-off 1pm) in Bloemfontein.
“We don’t see the two seasons as failures,” said Nkosi, at training earlier this week. “To have lost one game in each season is not a failure by any stretch of the imagination.
“If you said to me two years ago, you’ll only drop two or three games in a season, we would have taken that. For us, it is still incredibly successful.
“We have three objectives. One is to introduce the next generation, two is to bridge the gap between junior and senior rugby and the last objective is to go as far as possible. We want to get to the final and, hopefully, we can do those last two minutes better than the last two years.”
The first two goals will see the Lions field a healthy mix of youngsters and more experienced players who have sampled the United Rugby Championship.
“We will see guys who are Junior Springboks and who won the title last year, like Thando Biyela and Morne Venter,” said Nkosi.
“You will see guys like Likhona Finca, who really did well in that Under-23 comp and we feel that he is one of those guys ready to make that step up now. You’ll see guys like Asad Moos, who is also a Junior Bok and, hopefully, he can come through now with guys like Layton Horn.
“There are quite a number of guys who we think are going to come through.”
The more seasoned campaigners could see the Lions field the likes of Siba Mahashe, Batho Hlekani, SJ Kotze, Haashim Pead, Morgan Naude, Izan Esterhuizen and a handful of franchise players as the season progresses.
Renzo du Plessis, Jarod Cairns, Ruan Delport, Rabz Maxwane and Sam Francis have already been highlighted as early starters for the Cup, and their wisdom and knowledge of senior rugby will be important for the team to reach a third consecutive final.
“Renzo is only 23-years old, so he is very much a youngster in the broader scheme of things. Guys like Cairns, Delport and Francis, who is also only 23, but we have seen a lot of them in terms of first-class rugby.
“Hopefully, those guys can envelop the youngsters. Guys like Rabz, we know he is a seasoned campaigner, and hopefully he can get good time and make some meaningful contributions to the teams.”
