With the Blue Bulls conspicuous by their absence, the 2000 Currie Cup seems set to be a three-horse race between the Lions, Natal Sharks and Western Province.
The next two weeks could give an indication of who is most likely to win the Currie Cup. Defending champions the Lions play WP at Ellis Park on Saturday, while Gert Smal's team take on the Sharks at home the following weekend.
The eight teams who qualified for the Top Eight now play four matches against the teams who weren't in their section in the pool stages. But they carry over the log points they accrued against their fellow Top Eight qualifiers.
The Lions were awesome in their 94-24 victory over the Griffons at Ellis Park, while the Sharks beat Free State Cheetahs 42-12 in Durban and WP were superb against the Pumas in Witbank. Province should, however, be concerned about their porous defence in the 51-32 win.
The Lions ran in 14 tries against the Griffons and could have passed the 100-mark had they not been too eager in the first half. Lions coach Laurie Mains also rested some of his key players, but the substitutes rose to the occasion.
"I have a nice problem to pick the team for next week," said Mains on Saturday night.
Injured Springbok centre Japie Mulder (pictured) and lock Jannes Labuschagne are likely to return, while Thinus Delport, Marius Mostert and Leon Boshoff, who were rested, could all be back.
Mains praised veterans Hannes Strydom and Hennie le Roux, who stood in for Labuschagne and Grant Esterhuizen respectively. Le Roux took over the kicking duties from Koen and passed the milestone of 1,000 first-class points.
The experience of former Wallaby scrumhalf Brett Johnstone, the goal-kicking and ball distribution skills of flyhalf Louis Koen and the pace and power of Dean Hall were the other highlights of the match.
Johnstone replaced Werner Swanepoel, who sustained a shoulder injury. There was initially concern over Springbok scrumhalf Swanepoel, who left the field early in the match, but his injury is not that serious and he should be fit to take his place against WP.