[2017 Super Rugby] The FINAL: Lions vs. Crusaders (05/08/2017)

[TRF_heineken]

Venue: Emirates Airlines Park
Time: 16:00 CAT (SA, GMT+2)
​

Teams

Lions: 15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Ruan Combrinck, 13 Lionel Mapoe, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Courtnall Skosan, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Ross Cronje, 8 Ruan Ackermann, 7 Kwagga Smith, 6 Jaco Kriel (captain), 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Andries Ferreira, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Jacques van Rooyen

Substitutes: 16 Akker van der Merwe, 17 Corne Fourie, 18 Johannes Jonker, 19 Lourens Erasmus, 20 Cyle Brink, 21 Faf de Klerk, 22 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 23 Sylvian Mahuza

Crusaders: TBA

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

I think the Lions shouldn't look to be playing all the rugby in this one. Not from the get-go at least. I don't know. I just think it didn't look like it helped the Chiefs much and the Hurricanes got 2 of their 3 tries against the Lions while the Lions were playing all the rugby. IMO their last try shouldn't have allowed actuall- 5 clearly way off side at the ruck and I felt for Ross Cronje throwing hands in the air watching Ardie Savea off to the races. Not that I blame 5. He got away with it and you have to try your hand I suppose. My point being, while the Lions were playing the rugby the 'Canes were getting the points that first half. Back yourself ball in hand for sure but only if the defenses have been stretched well enough to ensure the attacking side isn't the one under pressure.

Lions should IMO only open the gates if it does turn out that the frowards are getting the meters. RJvR might help out here. But I trust Ackermann. Clearly he knows what he is doing. I mean three years ago these Lions players were no-names in SA rugby and under his tutelage you could make a case for every man of the starting XV to get a go at test level even if I have some reservations still.

 

[TRF_heineken]

I think the Lions shouldn't look to be playing all the rugby in this one. Not from the get-go at least. I don't know. I just think it didn't look like it helped the Chiefs much and the Hurricanes got 2 of their 3 tries against the Lions while the Lions were playing all the rugby. IMO their last try shouldn't have allowed actuall- 5 clearly way off side at the ruck and I felt for Ross Cronje throwing hands in the air watching Ardie Savea off to the races. Not that I blame 5. He got away with it and you have to try your hand I suppose. My point being, while the Lions were playing the rugby the 'Canes were getting the points that first half. Back yourself ball in hand for sure but only if the defenses have been stretched well enough to ensure the attacking side isn't the one under pressure.

Lions should IMO only open the gates if it does turn out that the frowards are getting the meters. RJvR might help out here. But I trust Ackermann. Clearly he knows what he is doing. I mean three years ago these Lions players were no-names in SA rugby and under his tutelage you could make a case for every man of the starting XV to get a go at test level even if I have some reservations still.

I think the Lions should do the hard yards first. Grind it out with the forwards and then pounce when the opportunity is there. The Crusaders scramble defence against the Chiefs was just awesome. And I think the Lions should make sure that if they break the line, have at least 2 or 3 guys in support. The Chiefs had most of the time only one or 2 guys in support, and got cornered or turned over.

What will be appetizing, is the scrum contest. Both these teams have used the scrum as a weapon, and if the Lions can do the same what they did to the 'Canes, then it will give them the upper hand.

Jantjies, Combrink, Cronje and Coetzee should make sure they kick the ball out to force the lineout, as the Saders back 3 love to run the ball back.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

I fancied the Lions matchup against the Crusaders even before the Lions improved performance this weekend. The Crusaders really upped their level at the weekend too so this should be a cracker.

The key points for me will be:
i) the Crusader pack cannot dominate the Lions one.
ii) the Crusaders may struggle against sides they can't dominate up front (as I predicted with them against BIL).
iii) if the Crusaders have to put in anything like the defensive shift they did against the Chiefs in the first half they will die at altitude.

So all signs point to a comfortable Lions win for me. 13 points. I got the semis horribly wrong though!

 

[JJFlash]

Emirates Airlines Park?
Is this another change of stadium name?
I still think of Ireland's Landsdowne Road and not the Aviva Stadium.
Hasn't the name of Cardiff's stadium changed too from the Millenium Stadium to something else?
Anyway, "Allez les Lions!!"

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

IF the Lions do win (I have them as 51% favorites) do we count that as their maiden win or do we count the Transvaal 1993 and Queenland 1994 Super 10 wins? I would like to count them. Those are some vintage sides. Transvaal with a hard nosed pack including Francois Pienaar, Kobus Wiese, James Dalton. TBF the Transvaal did adopt the Lions moniker officially that year (beating Auckland in the final). You'd then have to give the Reds their 1994 and 1995 ***les as well under Eales (beating the Sharks and Lions in the finals).

 

[Cruz_del_Sur]

I agree with Stormer. Lions should be (very) cautious at first. They tend to have pretty average 1hs and then come back on the 2H, which provides amazing nailbiters but is not, by ANY measure, a smart strategy. Not just now but also during the regular season (Jaguares' game in J'burg comes to mind). They got away with it against the sharks and crusaders, but third time might be the charm for the opposition.
That's what i think they should do, but i don't think they will do that. Tigers can't change their stripes.
I don't think the Crusaders are better than the Hurricanes, but they appear to be better at closing games once they are ahead.

 

[Cruz_del_Sur]

And, of course, if Janties is not having a good day, it won't be much of a contest.

 

[mdaclarke]

They should just play how they did in the 2nd half. Also make sure they kick well from their own 22.

 

[die_mole]

Peyper

(Popcorn emoji)

 

[mania]

good luck to both team. i pray for no major injuries , heaps of great rugby , dignity and honour showed by both sides and most importantly great sportsman spirit.
saders have their work cut out for them ad i would place them as under dogs. its hard enough traveling to SA as it is, let alone having the lions with all their skill and experience waiting for you at the other end.
whilst my head is lions my heart says saders

 

[WaterboySA]

At least they chose the best ref for the final. Now we can all look ahead to great rugby.

 

[TRF_heineken]

Emirates Airlines Park?
Is this another change of stadium name?
I still think of Ireland's Landsdowne Road and not the Aviva Stadium.
Hasn't the name of Cardiff's stadium changed too from the Millenium Stadium to something else?
Anyway, "Allez les Lions!!"

Another change?? That has been the name of the stadium for the past 4 years due to their major sponsor Emirates Airlines. Most of SA's stadiums give their sponsors the right to change the name of the stadium. Luckily the Bulls' sponsor haven't done that yet.

Peyper

(Popcorn emoji)

Of course it would be you to bring this up...

Anyway, it shows that Sanzaar have the utmost respect for him and the way in he handles the games.

Interestingly enough here is the teams records where he was involved with:

Crusaders: Played 11, Won 8 (72%)
Lions: Played 11, Won 8 (72%)

 

[WaterboySA]

Stadium sold out.

 

[TRF_heineken]

Stadium sold out.

Yup.

Heard on the radio yesterday that 95% of the Season Ticket Holders went to the office after the Semi Final game to collect their final tickets. And yesterday at 10am, 80% of all the tickets were sold.

A full Ellis Park is not something many teams can handle...

 

[smartcooky]

Another change?? That has been the name of the stadium for the past 4 years due to their major sponsor Emirates Airlines. Most of SA's stadiums give their sponsors the right to change the name of the stadium. Luckily the Bulls' sponsor haven't done that yet.

For mine, its Ellis Park. It has always been Ellis Park, it will always be Ellis Park, and as long as I draw breath, I will always refer to it as Ellis Park (see the table at the top of the page).

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

Of course it would be you to bring this up...

Anyway, it shows that Sanzaar have the utmost respect for him and the way in he handles the games.

Interestingly enough here is the teams records where he was involved with:

Crusaders: Played 11, Won 8 (72%)
Lions: Played 11, Won 8 (72%)

I don't think he means it the way you take it. The way the kiwi's went OTT cannot be denied. I actually wished it wouldn't be Peyper. Will he not be influenced by the noise and let it go to his head and try so hard to not be bias he ends up screwing the Lions? It might just be me feeling he let the Chiefs get away with murder at the breakdown vs the Stormers throughout the match in the QF that has me low grade miffed at him still.

 

[unrated]

This will be a great game. Ellis park sold out within two days. I don't think even the Springboks has managed to sell out Ellis park in recent years.

On the ref for the final being a South African.
Last year in the super rugby final between he lions and hurricanes in NZ the ref was Glen Jackson. Now go to that thread see if you see people complaining about neutral refs. To avoid being a hypocrite you would need to lambast the decision to appoint Glen Jackson for the 2016 finals before criticizing Sanzaar for appointing Jaco Peyper for the 2017 version.

 

[TRF_heineken]

For mine, its Ellis Park. It has always been Ellis Park, it will always be Ellis Park, and as long as I draw breath, I will always refer to it as Ellis Park (see the table at the top of the page).

Oh definitely.

It will always be Ellis Park, Loftus Versfeld, Newlands, Kings Park, House of Pain (even though it's at a new site) etc...

These names have a character on it's own.

I don't think he means it the way you take it. The way the kiwi's went OTT cannot be denied. I actually wished it wouldn't be Peyper. Will he not be influenced by the noise and let it go to his head and try so hard to not be bias he ends up screwing the Lions? It might just be me feeling he let the Chiefs get away with murder at the breakdown vs the Stormers throughout the match in the QF that has me low grade miffed at him still.

Stirring the pot much...

This will be a great game. Ellis park sold out within two days. I don't think even the Springboks has managed to sell out Ellis park in recent years.

On the ref for the final being a South African.
Last year in the super rugby final between he lions and hurricanes in NZ the ref was Glen Jackson. Now go to that thread see if you see people complaining about neutral refs. To avoid being a hypocrite you would need to lambast the decision to appoint Glen Jackson for the 2016 finals before criticizing Sanzaar for appointing Jaco Peyper for the 2017 version.

Come on @unrated, why try to rationalise this now? Just because the Kiwi's aren't getting everything they want this time around, shouldn't make it okay to bring up the past.

 

[KeyboardWorrier]

I feel bad the Crusaders here, because they'll get done for murdering some Lions after this game is done.

Crusaders by 30.