THE Lions became the first team to qualify for the 2016 Super Rugby play offs by beating the Sharks 37-10 with a bonus point and taking an unassailable lead in Africa 2 conference.
The Sharks on 35 points in the standings have matches against the Cheetahs and the Sunwolves remaining but even if they take bonus point wins from both matches they could only reach 45 points.
The result moves the Lions up to first place overall on 47 points so the Sharks cannot catch them which makes the Lions Africa 2 Conference winners and that guarantees them a place at home in the play offs.
The Lions play the Southern Kings next week in Johannesburg and then finish the regular season against the Jaguares in Buenos Aires. Next week the Sharks play the Cheetahs at home in Durban.
The Lions outscored the Sharks by five tries to two in the match. Lions captain and tryscorer Jaco Kriel was named man of the match.
In the first half, the Sharks had to contend with a spate of Lions attacks which produced four tries to lay the foundation for an eventual bonus-point win and a much deserved one too.
The Sharks bounced back late in the second half with two unconverted tries but it was not enough to force the Lions to surrender their bonus point. The Lions who ran out with seven Springboks in their ranks sounded a Super Rugby championship challenge with this performance.
The game started at a frenetic pace with both sides looking to bring their forwards into the attacks at every opportunity. The tactic did not allow the teams to make an early breakthrough but the Lions looked the more threatening.
Lions flyhalf Elton Jantjies opened the scoring via a penalty in the eighth minute and then moments later his halfback partner Faf de Klerk opened up the Sharks defence with a clever box kick which the Sharks No 9 Michael Claassens failed to field. Lions rightwing Ruan Combrinck was up in a flash to clean up and score his side’s first try (8-0).
The Sharks were never allowed to settle down as the Lions kept building pressure with a sequence of power surges which was stretching the opposition defence to its limits.
