JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - FEBRUARY 21: Francke Horn (captain) from the Lions in action during the United Rugby Championship match between Lions and Hollywoodbets Sharks at Ellis Park on February 21, 2026 in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Photo by Anton Geyser/Gallo Images)
Lions captain Francke Horn said that he was pleased with a solid performance from his team after they picked up a full house of points in their 34-22 United Rugby Championship (URC) win over the Sharks at Ellis Park on Saturday.
The Lions were the better side, and could have won by a bigger margin, but having played 20 minutes of the match with 14-men, after two yellow cards (the Sharks had one of their own), and a couple of errors meant the scoreline stayed respectable.
But it was a comfortable win, as the Sharks needed a consolation try after the fulltime hooter to bring themselves closer, and although not a complete performance, the Lions are happy to be back to winning ways after an absolute hammering against Jukskei rivals, the Bulls, in their previous game.
“We showed some dominance. We were really hurting after the Bulls game here at home (three weeks ago). We had two weeks (in training) to fix that, and I think we did a really good job of that,” said Horn during the post match interview.
“I think we had a lot of opportunities (which we didn’t take), but if you told me before the game that we would get five points, I would have taken it.”
The positive result brought the Lions right into the hunt for the SA Shield trophy, moving them to one point behind the Sharks.
If they can beat the Stormers at Ellis Park this coming weekend, while the Bulls beat the Sharks at Loftus, it would secure the Shield for the Joburg side, which they have yet to win before.
Focus on Stormers
However Horn said their full focus will be on a wounded Stormers team, who head into the match after seeing them drop from the top of the URC log to third over their previous two game weeks.
“Stormers next week, and we know they will be hurting after their last two games (losses against the Sharks), so we will have to step up our game,” said Horn.
“I am happy with the performance (against the Sharks), but we need to keep on going. This was a massive game for us and next week it’s going to be the same.”
Sharks captain and former Lions player Vincent Tshituka pointed to a slew of errors from his side, that wouldn’t allow them to build any momentum, that contributed to their defeat.
“We produced a lot of errors, on top of each other. It was error after error and we couldn’t build a lot of positives in a row. I think that burnt us in the second half, when things just didn’t go our way. We also lost the contestable battle as well, and that came back to bite us,” explained Tshituka.
Speaking about them having a second chance to clinch the SA Shield against the Bulls next weekend, Tshituka said they were only focused on the game: “We know what the Bulls bring and we have a lot of work to do before we get there.”
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