The Golden Lions will be looking to make it three wins from three starts when they take on the Free State on Saturday the 8th of September.
The Golden Lions welcome the Free State to Emirates Airline Park this coming weekend for what should be a frantic 80-minutes of rugby. The hosts have been absolutely spectacular with ball-in-hand this term, running in mesmerizing tries for fun. And with the Cheetahs also sure to take a gung-ho approach to this fixture, we should be in for an absolute cracker in Johannesburg.
Golden Lions v Free State
Saturday 8 September
Emirates Airline Park
16:20
To Win (80 Mins)
Lions 1/100
Draw 45/1
Free State 14/1
Handicap
Lions (-25) 9/10 *
Free State (+25) 9/10
* forecast handicap
Lions
They came into the tournament as favourites with the bookmakers to win it and the Golden Lions are certainly living up to that billing. The men from Johannesburg proved that they there’s a lot of spirit in their squad as they came from behind to beat the Bulls 35-38 at Loftus last Saturday.
This was the Lions second bonus-point victory for their season with their first coming against the Griquas whom they dispatched 62-41 in Round 2. They really are playing the Lions brand of rugby with youngsters such as Hacjivah Dayimani and Dillon Smit stepping up to the mark this term.
Free State
They may still be winless in the competition but this Cheetahs side can take a lot of pride out of their narrow four-point defeat to the Sharks last Saturday, The Free Staters were missing a plethora of players due to their senior figures being on PRO14 duty.
Despite missing a swathe of their senior squad they gave a very talented and experienced Sharks side a real run for their money and actually to the lead into the half-time interval. And while they did let the Sharks back into the game in the second half, the Cheetahs were still in with a sniff of claiming the win when the game went into its final ten minutes.
Verdict: Lions (-25) 9/10 * forecast handicap
This should be a highly entertaining game but I cannot see the Cheetahs competing for the full 80-minutes. My money is on a late blitz from the Lions seeing them past the handicap.
