Lions coach Mziwakhe Nkosi praised the tactical nous of rival Peter Bergh after the Kimberley side masterminded a shock 27-25 Currie Cup final victory at Ellis Park on Saturday afternoon.
The visitors settled the tie with a George Whitehead penalty from the final kick of the game, ending a 55-year trophy drought and condemning the Lions to a second successive Currie Cup final defeat.
“We’re extremely disappointed, especially having thought we’d maybe done enough to win. But then again, I don’t think we can take anything away from Peter Bergh, George (Whitehead) and his team, particularly from a tactical point of view,” Nkosi reflected afterwards.
“We couldn’t get clear water between the two of us and we probably left it too tight at the end. I think that Peter came with a really good tactic. They felt they couldn’t get around us, so they came around the fringes of the ruck and maul, which was helluva good. Around the fringe our body height was really poor.
“For a game like this, for a final, winner-takes-all, that’s an unbelievable tactic. We just didn’t react and adapt quickly enough to that tactic they persisted with the whole game.
“Like I said, I thought our body height was weak, our tackle fight. We didn’t do enough to subvert that tactic and all it did was frustrate us. They got penalties, they marched us down, and in games like this, territory is important.”
The Lions had led 17-14 at half-time and looked to have one hand on the trophy when replacement flyhalf Lubabalo Dobela slotted a late penalty to put them a point ahead. But the last word went to veteran flyhalf Whitehead, whose nerveless strike sealed an historic win for the men from Kimberley.
“We weren’t accurate, we lost something like four or five lineouts, we lost the aerial battle, we lost a couple of balls in the air. We had opportunities in their 22 that we didn’t take. We gave away silly penalties. It’s not like they completely outplayed us,” Nkosi admitted.
For Bergh, the enormity of the achievement was still sinking in.
“For long we’ve said there’s room for the smaller unions in South African rugby and hopefully this shows we can compete, with a budget probably 20% of the Lions’ budget,” the Griquas coach said. “We came here and beat a full-strength Lions team who brought the Springboks in for the final. Incredibly proud. Hopefully it opens doors for the smaller unions.”
The Lions will now need to put their disappointment swiftly behind them as they turn their attention to the United Rugby Championship, which begins next weekend with an away clash against Cardiff in Wales.
