Currie Cup Team of the Week – Round 4

Human wrecking ball Willem Alberts leads a pride of roaring Lions into our Currie Cup Team of the Week, writes Quintin van Jaarsveld.

The Johannesburg side ended a three-year Currie Cup losing streak against the Sharks, downing the Durbanites 27-12 at Ellis Park on Saturday evening to shoot two places up the log into second position.

In the process, the Lions kept the Sharks tryless for the first time in 15 fixtures across all competitions and boast no less than 10 stars in our side. The Sharks, who slipped one place to third, have two representatives in our team. Saturday’s other scheduled clash between the table-topping Bulls and basement-dwelling Griquas in Kimberley was cancelled due to players and management from the Pretoria outfit testing positive for Covid-19.

Round Four kicked off on Friday night in Nelspruit, where the Cheetahs landed a double blow. Their 35-31 victory was the defending champions’ first in this year’s competition – keeping them in the hunt in fifth place – and dashed the Pumas’ play-off hopes. Two Free Staters and a passion-fuelled Puma round out our line-up.

15: Tiaan Swanepoel (Lions)

Punished the Sharks with his big boot, not just with two penalties and a conversion but by gaining ample ground with his tactical kicking and driving punts to set up attacking lineouts close to the try line. Showed more of his attacking ability as well, making a good clean break and crossing the whitewash.

14: Sbu Nkosi (Sharks)

Tried everything he could to wake the Sharks from their slumber on the night. A ball of energy, he sparked the only time the visitors looked like scoring when he plucked Curwin Bosch’s restart out of the air (shades of his outrageous try against the Pumas) and went on to step Dan Kriel. Made a line break and offloaded to Marius Louw later on, made good defensive reads and a hard spot tackle on Swanepoel.

13: Wandisile Simelane (Lions)

The future Springbok provided the highlight of the weekend when he beat three defenders – including breaking Lukhanyo Am’s ankles with a stunning sidestep – and drew two more before offloading to an unmarked Swanepoel. The moment of individual brilliance in the 72nd minute (time-stamped below) put paid to the Sharks’ hopes of a comeback and was the cherry on top of a solid showing.

12: Marius Louw (Sharks)

Little to choose from between Louw and Kriel, who slugged it out in a bruising positional battle. Louw has looked possessed as of late and again showed no regard for his personal well-being as he kept coming with a joint-team-high nine carries. Equally industrious and fearless on defence, where his eight tackles speak to what was another well-rounded effort.

11: Courtnall Skosan (Lions)

A two-horse race between try-scorers Skosan and William Small-Smith. The Lions flyer is a natural wing and it showed in how he finished off as he picked up a loose ball and went low into the corner and over before Sikhumbuzo Notshe could nudge him into touch. Small-Smith, conversely, nearly made a meal of an easier opportunity. Skosan was brave under the high ball and got his team out of a sticky situation with a good scramble and touch-finder.

10: Elton Jantjies (Lions)

As his first outing at flyhalf in ages, Frans Steyn grew more comfortable in the role in the second half and his accurate boot played a big role in the Bloemfontein side’s win. He had a mare of a first half, though. Jantjies was class throughout, controlling the game and mixing things up well. Kept the scoreboard ticking (11 points), kicked excellently out of hand, had a few darting runs (the first forced a penalty out of the Sharks right away) and his distribution was delectable (note the ball to Simelane that set up his magic above).

9: Ruben de Haas (Cheetahs)

André Warner had a good game behind his dominant pack, helping to keep the Sharks bogged down in their half. Found touch 5m from the try line with a grubber on one occasion and probed around the fringes. De Haas didn’t have it as easy but also excelled. His exit kicks were excellent and he made good plays with his vision and skill on attack including beating two defenders with a bullet ball to set up Small-Smith (time-stamped below).

8: Willie Engelbrecht (Pumas)

The hard man of the Pumas. A defensive juggernaut with a match-high 13 tackles. Made many a ball-carrier pay with crushing hits including smashing Steyn (dislodging the ball on the hosts’ 5m line) and owning Dries Swanepoel. Made up for a questionable yellow card by breaking a tackle and fending off another defender to score to bring his team back into the game with six minutes to go.

7: Wilhelm van der Sluys (Lions)

Drafted in late to replace Vincent Tshituka, the second-rower’s first outing at flank was an impressive one. Ivan van Rooyen said afterwards the shift was made with an eye on South African rugby’s future in Europe and if this was any indication, the Lions have seemingly found a dual-threat as Van der Sluys made an impressive 12 tackles, broke one with ball in hand and worked a maul turnover.

6: Andisa Ntsila (Cheetahs)

Energetic and ultra-effective. Bagged a brace of tries and broke the line with a barnstorming run from a lineout. Busy on defence, too, making nine tackles to come away with the Man of the Match award. Had a great head-to-head battle (one of a handful on the night) against Daniel Maartens, who also dotted down and made a try-saving stop.

5: Marvin Orie (Lions)

One disciplinary lapse aside, Orie was outstanding once again. His output is outrageous week-in and week-out, the tireless tall timber making a joint-round-high 15 tackles. This on top of running the lineout like the seasoned pro he is, making five carries and maintaining momentum with some silky soft touches.

4: Willem Alberts (Lions) – Player of the Week

Monstrous in his Man of the Match performance. Played a leading role in the Lions’ forwards dominance, both with and without the ball. In vintage form, “The Bone Collector” claimed two more victims as he stopped Notshe and a flying Louw dead in their tracks. The 36-year-old made 11 tackles in all and was a force in the set pieces and mauls as well.

3: Jannie du Plessis (Lions)

Not as eye-catching as he was against the Cheetahs, playing just 40 minutes, but made a big enough of an impact to crack the nod as he anchored the dominant scrum. The 38-year-old’s vast experience is as beneficial to the Lions as his tried-and-tested technical scrummaging and one could sense how the cool-headed colossus inspired his teammates in the trenches.

2: Jaco Visagie (Lions)

Pumas stalwart Simon Westraadt pushed hard for a place in our side. He was good in the set pieces, scored a try, set off on a memorable run and won a breakdown penalty on the Cheetahs’ 5m line. Visagie made a few errors but made up for them with tremendous work across the park, matching Orie’s joint-round-high 15 tackles.

1: Dylan Smith (Lions)

An eleventh-hour replacement for Sti Sithole and man, did he make the most of the opportunity. Spearheaded the scrum massacre, absolutely goring greenhorn Michael Kumbirai. Won four ferocious penalties in the set-piece – which laid the foundation for the victory – three in the first half, the second of which led to a try. Mobile, too, making six hits.

Quintin van Jaarsveld

Quintin Van Jaarsveld is a former MDDA-Sanlam SA Local Sports Journalist of the Year and a former three-time Vodacom KwaZulu-Natal Sports Journalist of the Year. Formerly the sports editor and Outstanding Journalist of the Year award winner at The Fever Media Group, deputy editor at eHowzit, editor at SARugby.com and senior staff writer at Rugby365.com, he boasts over 15 years’ experience and is currently a freelance sports writer.