WP fall short
Close but no cigar: WP needed two more tries
The Lions qualified for the Currie Cup semi-finals on Saturday by denying Western Province a bonus point victory at Newlands in a frenetic game won 14-6 by the hosts.
The win was not enough for Western Province to make the play-offs as the Free State Cheetahs had scored a five pointer against Boland earlier in the day, leaving WP in fifth place in the standings.
Province outscored their hosts two tries to nil, but fell short of the nineteen point winning margin needed to sneak into the top four.
The result means the Lions will face the Sharks in Durban in the first semi-final while the Cheetahs travel to Pretoria to face the Blue Bulls.
But back to Cape Town where Province's intentions were clear from the start, choosing to set up attacking line-outs rather than take points from the kicking-tee. But the WP set pieces were suffering earlier on as two line-out throws lost were followed by a penalty conceded after four reset scrums.
With tempers fraying and plenty of off-the-ball niggle teetering on the edge of fisticuffs, but teams were making unforced errors as both fly-halve were guilty of kicking the ball out on the full from promising positions.
As one would expect, WP were all about giving the ball air, but the Lions were doing a super job of slowing their possession down being especially disruptive in the line-outs.
With the first quarter gone and the scorers yet to be troubled, the WP fans were growing desperate. Ricky Januarie could have opened the scoring, but knocked on with the line at his mercy on a rare occasion when the Province locks could secure their throw unimpeded.
It had taken the Province backs twenty minutes to discover they had a tail wind and that kicking might not be a bad idea, but the visitors' back-three were up to the challenge and did a good job of pinning the right footed Joe Pietersen to the right hand touch line in a number of ping-pong battles.
Just a minute of the first half remained when WP finally got a break. Lions centre Doppies la Grange was shown a yellow card for his side's repeated infringements at the break down. Luke Watson, was quick to cash in on WP's numerical advantage, wrapping around the back of a ruck and diving over in the corner after the hooter had sounded.
Peter Grant added the extras to give the home side a 7-0 lead as the team heading for the change rooms.
The second-half continued in much the same frenetic yet points-spares vein. Earl rose finally opened the Lions account with a penalty from in front of the posts on the 60 minute mark.
The situation was looking bleak for the Capetonians when captain Jean de Villiers did what he does best. Against the run of play, De Villiers intercepted a pass intended for Jaque Fourie and sprinted the length of the field for WP's second try. Pietersen was on hand to immediately drop-kick the conversion and things were looking up for the home fans at 14-3.
But the Newlands faithful would head home heads hanging low as the Blue and Whites hoops were unable to score again. Rose added another penalty for the Lions in the dying minutes to end Province's 2008 Currie Cup.
The Scorers
For Western Province:
Tries: Watson, De Villiers
Cons: Grant, Pietersen
For the Lions:
Pens: Rose2
Yellow cards: La Grange (Lions - 39th minute)
Western Province: 15 Conrad Jantjes, 14 Joe Pietersen, 13 Sireli Naqelevuki, 12 Jean de Villiers (c), 11 Wylie Human, 10 Peter Grant, 9 Ricky Januarie, 8 Luke Watson, 7 Francois Louw, 6 Schalk Burger, 5 Andries Bekker, 4 Adriaan Fondse, 3 Brian Mujati, 2 Schalk Brits, 1 Wicus Blaauw.
Replacements: 16 Deon Fourie, 17 JC Ktitzinger, 18 Schalk Ferreira, 19 AJ Venter, 20 Bolla Conradie, 21 Percy Montgomery, 22 Morgan Newman.
Lions: 15 Louis Ludik, 14 Michael Killian, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Doppies la Grange, 11 Trompie Nontshinga, 10 Earl Rose, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 Ernst Joubert, 7 Justin Wheeler, 6 Cobus Grobbelaar (c), 5 Franco van der Merwe, 4 Anton van Zyl, 3 Ross Geldenhuys, 2 Willie Wepener, 1 Heinke van der Merwe.
Replacements: 16 Ethienne Reynecke, 17 Lawrence Sephaka, 18 Jannes Labuschagne, 19 Wilhelm Koch, 20 Chris Jonck, 21 Louis Strydom, 22 Jaco Van Schalkwyk.
Referee: Craig Joubert
Touch judges: Sindile Mayende, Marc van Zyl
Television match official: Willie Roos