Jordan Hendrikse’s comments that the Hollywoodbets Sharks are “smart enough” to handle the Emirates Lions attack ahead of their Vodacom United Rugby Championship showdown in Johannesburg this weekend may sound like just another sound bite, but chances are it is being taken a lot more seriously in the Lions camp.
The evolution of the young Lions team into a genuine threat at URC level came with a stern desire earlier in the year to win the domestic competition - the Currie Cup - and Hendrikse’s role in denying them that honour in the final at the same venue will forever be a lowpoint for this Lions’ side.
After all, it was Ivan van Rooyen who took over the coaching from Mzwakhe Nkosi after the latter’s young Lions team put them in a strong position and the former then proceeded to play a full-strength URC team in the domestic competition, signalling their firm desire that they wanted a trophy in their cabinet.
The Sharks, who had more focus on the inter-continental competition, survived a Loftus Versfeld semifinal with 12 men at one stage to win in extra time, and then bamboozled a final where the Lions were in firm control, to see Hendrikse’s last gasp penalty win them the trophy and deny the Lions.
It was a catastrophe in the biggest sense in Johannesburg and showed what happened to best-laid plans for the Joburg franchise.
And in a sense it was the perfect metaphor for the conundrum the Lions have found themselves in for the past few seasons.
The last time we played at Emirates Airline Park 🔥@Vodacom #URC #LIOvSHA #OriginRound #GrassrootsToGreatness pic.twitter.com/AGVITk9Uh3
— The Sharks (@SharksRugby) February 24, 2025
The team has an immense amount of rising talent - so much so that it has been recognised by the Springbok management both last season in test debuts and this season in terms of invites to the first Springbok alignment camp.
Yet despite this and a willingness to play fast, elaborate attacking rugby, for some reason the Lions go back into their shell whenever they are in a big game.
We saw this against Leinster, Munster and in particular in the Currie Cup final against the Sharks.
There is no doubt that Hendrikse kick still rankles them, and not only because he is a former teammate, who decided to leave them and join the star-studded Sharks side.
The Currie Cup final was supposed to be a crowning moment for this group of players, a throwback to the era when Johan Ackermann and Swys de Bruin signalled the rise of the Lions by winning a Currie Cup before leading the side to three consecutive Super Rugby finals.
But Hendrikse’s kick ruined that dream, and it left the Lions licking their wounds.
BAD MEMORIES
So when he says this week that the Sharks are “smart enough” to stop the Lions attack, he was meaning no malice other than to answer a run of the mill media question in the press conference, but for the Lions, it will bring up reminders of how they lost that key moment, after doing everything right for most of the game.
Coaches often like to say what happened in the past means nothing, but around Ellis Park the loss in the Currie Cup final was like a funeral. It signalled the Lions still have a mental block to get over and it has continued despite a wonderful start to the URC season.
On Saturday Hendrikse will again stand on the same stage with a black jersey on. The key for the Lions is to find a way to get over that hurdle if they want to move forward as a group.