Lions inexperience shows

Jantjies, who had a fine game otherwise, sank his team with a hospital pass to Hollenbach that should never have been thrown. That led directly to the win. That aside he played well with some nice running and a good break past the Canes heavy brigade. But Morne would never have thrown that pass at that time.....pure inexperience.

The rest of the Bok hopefuls were pretty awful. Strauss lost the ball twice in the tackle....leading directly to Coles' try. And his bullocking runs never made a step. This lad is slow and hardly a factor out wide. Not Bok material, much as he may be an inspiring figure for the Lions.

Taute was even worse tonight. He made a few really dumb passes like the one backwards over his head on the touchline.....allowed balls to bounce....lost the ball in the tackle which led directly to Jane's try. ........lost the ball again in contact  ....and then horribly botched the one up and under he had to take all night. I have seen him play quite well in the past, so it's hard to know what to make of this shocker. Suffice it to say Lambie's place at 15 is under no threat. 

Jantjies is exciting to watch! 

What does it say about Currie Cup when a slightly above average Hurricane side beats our champions? Josh isn't Bok material and how anyone can think of him as a possible Bok captain is a mystery. The Lions were far too slow when recycling  from ruck ball and too often they were launching attacks from standing starts. I agree, Jantjies had a good game but given his size I would have thought he'd be nippy, too many times he got caught trying to make a break, this year might be a good learning curve for him if he stayed injury free. The Lions were their own worst enemies in decision making, at times they complicated matters and blew away scoring chances when they should have kept it simple.

 Ma Moz you do speak a load of nonsense - Jantjies showed exactly why he is far far better than Morne has ever been. 

Strauss had another solid game and certainly makes more yards driving into a player than say Schalk does. Josh did not lose the ball that led to the try, he tried to off load it and did not get that right - good on him for trying to keep the ball alive

Taute had a great game, great running and vision - the odd mistake - so bloody what. Play Taute at 13 I say

The Currie Cup is nothing more than a starting point at identifying possible up and coming talent. Every year fans are led to believe that CC performances are a barometer for greatness. Even Earl Rose had his moments in the CC, and look how that turned out. There is an eerie similarity to him and Jantjies in how they are being overhyped. The key to the Lions is how they perform as units. Their ability to function as units overcomes their individual inferiority. It was something that Eloff achieved with great effect, and that Mitchell has worked on to a lesser extent. Strauss in particular is hardly a great player in isolation. You have players like that elsewhere. Louw performed reasonably well for the Stormers, yet could not transfer that to the Boks. Stegmann is another. Strauss is a long way off being Bok material; for all the reasons that Moz stated. In conclusion, these players are drastically overstated in their importance. I have seen nothing from Jantjies that looks even remotely in the class of Morne.