Lions have learned from last year
Lions coach Mziwakhe Nkosi says the team hasn’t mentioned last year’s Currie Cup final once ahead of Saturday’s decider against Griquas at Ellis Park.
The Lions were left heartbroken in the 2024 showpiece in Joburg, when Jordan Hendrikse slotted a monster penalty after the hooter to hand the Sharks a dramatic 16-14 victory. It came after the Lions had lost possession from a lineout in opposition territory with time up.
Nkosi admits those memories remain vivid, but insists the past has not been a talking point in the build-up to this weekend’s final.
“As a matter of interest, we haven’t mentioned last year’s final. The players will attest to that – we haven’t mentioned it one bit,” Nkosi said. “Naturally, as a coach, there are one or two things that play on your mind; there are one or two things we hope to do differently this year.
“We’ve learned from last year that you need all the luck, you need to have all the reserves in terms of resilience and a little bit of character, which will surely be tested on Saturday – no doubt about that.”
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Unlike the other URC unions, the Lions have openly targeted the Currie Cup crown and enjoyed the benefit of a largely settled squad throughout the campaign. Nkosi says while winning the title remains the ultimate goal, he is also satisfied with how the team has developed this season.
“It’s been a challenging season. We’ve had oversight of KPIs – we had to give guys who didn’t play a lot of game time, we had to bring youngsters through and integrate the URC guys,” he explained.
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“So it’s had its fair challenges. We didn’t go on a winning streak like we did last year; we’ve had to bounce back from a bit of adversity. To lose to Boland in that environment [in Wellington] and then to go to the Pumas [in Nelspruit] on a really hot pitch was an exceptional sort of bounce-back from adversity.
“Hopefully, all those things stand us in good stead for Saturday.”
Kick-off is at 3pm.
Photo: Lefty Shivambu/Gallo Images