There was a popular try for the very popular and charismatic Asenathi Ntlabakanye in Cardiff but there was heartbreak for the Lions in another league defeat which puts pressure on their play-off prospects.
The Lions, since the advent of the United Rugby Championship (URC), have been the darlings of South African rugby, but they haven’t transferred the love into a winning habit.
Everyone I speak to wants the Lions to be successful because of their style of play, the coaching staff and some very cool customers in the guise of the players. When they thumped the Sharks a month ago, having led 38-0 after 77 minutes, the belief was the Lions had finally crushed the bridesmaid tag — especially after their home win against the Stormers in the build-up to the Sharks match.
It proved a false dawn, and the inconsistency is proving demanding for their prospects of a first URC top eight play-off finish.
Cardiff have been the best of the Welsh teams in the league and bookies favoured them to win at home by five points. I felt that was generous to the hosts, but it proved accurate as they edged the Lions by three points, just as the Sharks had done to the Lions in Durban, when Jaden Hendrikse kicked a late penalty in a 25-22 Sharks win.
Hendrikse’s penalty won the Sharks the South African Shield and consolidated their top four league position — but the defeats in Durban and Cardiff have kept the Lions bunched in the positions eight to 15, where a league win separates the teams.
Everyone I speak to wants the Lions to be successful because of their style of play, the coaching staff and some very cool customers in the guise of the players.
Only the Dragons, cemented to the bottom of the table, cannot qualify for the play-offs. The other 15 teams all have a chance with five rounds to play, with six wins from 13 currently good enough for fifth place.
Fortunately for the likes of the Lions and Stormers, who are on a two-match tour up north, they play their last four rounds at home.
And the league match-ups historically have consistently rewarded home wins.
The Lions will be down at two losing matches that could easily have been wins, but they won’t be despondent and devastated. They have been too close to feel they’re playing for a lost cause.
There is hope and four South African teams in the top eight is still a possibility when the final whistle blows.
The URC’s unpredictability this season has been matched in Super Rugby Pacific, where every team had lost after four rounds.
New Zealand’s Chiefs and Crusaders have been impressive, with Queensland Reds just ahead when it comes to the Australian contingent. The Fiji Drua and Moana Pasifika are providing try-scoring entertainment, if not necessarily having a similar impact in winning.
The Crusaders, after a hapless season last year, have shown all the qualities of those champion teams of the past three decades,and they were emphatic in dismantling the defending champion Blues 42-19 at Eden Park in Auckland on Saturday.
Super Rugby is rejuvenated this season, and there are an insane number of quality players emerging in all the teams — which means the All Blacks, Wallabies, Fiji and Samoa will be stronger in the international season.
The All Blacks play the Springboks in back-to-back Tests in New Zealand on September 6 and 13. These two matches, between the 2023 World Cup finalists and winners of a combined seven World Cups, are the most anticipated of the season.
The first Test will be played at Eden Park, where the All Blacks are unbeaten in 50 Tests since losing to France in 1994, having won 48 and drawn two against the Springboks in 1994 and the British & Irish Lions in 2017.
Talking of the Lions, they tour Australia this year and a full 9-match tour package costs R550 000 — for just one person!
I’ll take the cheap seat, thank you. From my couch.
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