The 2022 Currie Cup competition kicked off with a bang over the weekend as the Bulls and Western Province claimed bonus-point wins while the Cheetahs also started with a victory.
Western Province outscored the Lions 48-36, running in seven tries to five at Cape Town City Stadium, but it was a valiant effort from a young Lions side that impressed over the hosts who had a lot more experience in their ranks.
The Lions nonetheless made a number of errors in the game, with a slew of penalties and poor kick-off receives being among the areas they need to fix ahead of their match against the Pumas on Wednesday.
“The biggest challenge for this team is how quickly we learn those lessons, and if you face a bit of adversity how do you get over that adversity and try not go into a spiral,” said Lions coach Mziwakhe Nkosi.
“I think a couple of wins boosts your confidence and the more confident you are the quicker the gelling becomes. So we have to try and apply all these lessons we are learning.
“It’s a short turnaround and we play Wednesday against a seasoned team, so we have a couple of days to really do our homework and make sure we front up again.”
Western Province are also in action on Wednesday as they take on the Bulls, and they could see players such as captain Nama Xaba and lock Adre Smith heading off to join the Stormers URC side.
“”I’ve spoken to (Stormers coach) John Dobson about this game. It’s a short turnaround, so two or three guys will go up to the URC side. We’ve always known it might happen,” said WP coach Jerome Paarwater.
“But 95% of the team will hopefully stay the same.”
The Bulls were pushed hard on Friday, but in the end they started their Currie Cup defence on a high with a 33-19 win over the Pumas at Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit.
They will now also see a changed side for their second game of the campaign in Cape Town.
“The team going to Western Province is going to be different but very exciting. It will be a good mix of a couple of youngsters and a couple of older players,” said Bulls coach Gert Smal.
“We know there are areas we want to improve. We want to become better, faster and make the game more attractive.”
In the weekend’s other match, the Cheetahs beat close rivals the Griquas 30-20 in a difficult match in tricky conditions in Bloemfontein.
Griquas now head to Durban to face the Sharks on Wednesday while the Cheetahs have a bye.