Lions win SA Shield for first trophy in URC era
· Citizen
The Lions picked up their first piece of silverware in the United Rugby Championship (URC) era when they were crowned South African Shield champions after the Sharks were downed by the Bulls at Loftus on Saturday night.
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The Lions had already done their job by the time that match kicked off, beating the Stormers 24-10 in the earlier game, and then needed their Highveld rivals to do them a favour, which they did in spectacular fashion as they thumped the Sharks 41-12.
Even though the Bulls and Stormers still need to conclude the South African derbies with their match-up at Loftus in two weeks’ time, neither of them can catch the Lions at the top of the standings.
Although not a major trophy, winning the SA Shield will still be a big point of pride for the Lions as they chase their main goal of finishing in the URC top eight and qualifying for the competition knockouts for the first time.
The Shield is a mini competition within the URC, competed largely between the teams in your own country, which thus sees an SA Shield, an Irish Shield, a Welsh Shield, and a Scottish/Italian Shield, and only points gained between the teams in each group counts towards that tally.
In their six local derbies the Lions ended up winning four of them, two with bonus points, against the Bulls away and Sharks at home, while they also picked up wins at home against the Stormers and Sharks, and claimed one losing bonus point from their two losses for their final tally of 19 points.
Other teams
The Sharks are currently on 16 points after three wins and three losses in their six derbies, while the Bulls in third on 12 points after two wins and three losses can still pass them if they beat the Stormers, currently fourth on nine points, also with two wins and three losses, in their final derby.
Speaking after their win over the Stormers on Saturday, Lions captain Francke Horn praised his team for a superb past two weeks, that also saw them beat the Sharks in an entertaining derby a week previously.
“It’s been a fantastic last two weeks. Two really good wins, local derbies that in previous seasons could have gone the other way,” said Horn.
“I’m very happy about the game we played (against the Stormers). The first half was a bit back-and-forth and then we had two chances that we used very well.
“We know that the Stormers will never lie down. So to then get two yellow cards (in the second half, the second of which was upgraded to red very late in the game), the calmness came from the experienced players.”
The Lions now turn their attention fully to the regular URC campaign going forward, with the Joburg side currently seventh on the log, but things are tight with the Bulls three points behind and Ospreys four points back, in eighth and ninth, while the Stormers and Ulster in fifth and sixth are three points ahead.