British and Irish Lions

Ian McGeechan was left in no doubt as to the size of the challenge facing the Lions next summer after three of their four Currie Cup opponents reached the semi-finals of South Africa's premier domestic competition.

The Sharks, Cheetahs and Golden Lions all qualified for the final four of this year's tournament, with the Blue Bulls the only semi-finalists not due to take on the Lions in eight months time.

The Lions face the Sharks, the Cheetahs and the Golden Lions in quick succession as they build up to the first Test against the World Champions on June 20 next year.

A total of 12 wins and just two losses saw the Sharks top the Currie Cup standings after a 66-10 thrashing of the Griquas in the last round of the regular season.

"It's hard to put into words the spirit in the squad at the moment," said Sharks back row Jean Deysel after his side took their try total to 57 from 14 games.

"There is still a lot of rugby to be played, with the semi-finals up next, but we're aware of the job in hand and there will be no let-up from our side until we've won that trophy."

The Durbanites will now face their 2007 conquerors the Golden Lions after they secured the fourth and final spot despite falling to a 14-6 loss to another of the sides looking to turn over the best Britain and Ireland has to offer next summer.

Western Province may have beaten the Golden Lions last weekend but they failed to record the bonus-point win or the 19-point margin they required to squeeze into the penultimate stage of the tournament.

"It feels like a win," said Golden Lions coach 'Loffie' Eloff. "It was a tremendous defensive effort and we showed great courage.

"We wanted to slow it down to keep the structure, but we also wanted to attack. It may have looked like we just wanted to contain, but that certainly wasn't the case - we just didn't have the ball and couldn't do much from there."

Defending champions the Cheetahs finished in third place in the standings after a hugely entertaining 50-40 win over the Boland Cavaliers. Although they conceded six tries, the Cheetahs crossed for seven of their own with Springbok flanker Juan Smith, a World Cup winner and a likely starter when the Boks face the Lions in 2009, grabbing a brace.

The Cheetahs will now travel to Loftus Versfeld to take on the Blue Bulls after the Bulls beat the Valke 22-20 despite resting a host of Springbok stars such as Victor Matfield, Fourie du Preez and Bryan Habana.

Currie Cup semi-final fixtures, Saturday, October 11

Sharks vs Golden Lions (Durban)
Blue Bulls vs Cheetahs (Loftus Versfeld)

Top points-scorers

170 - Earl Rose (Golden Lions)
167 - Morne Steyn (Blue Bulls)
104 - Conrad Barnard (Griquas)
84 - Chris Rossouw (Cheetahs)
75 - Willem de Waal (Western Province)

Top try-scorers

9 - Keegan Daniel (Sharks)
8 - Jacques Botes (Sharks), MJ Mentz (Griquas)
6 - JP Pietersen (Sharks), John Mametsa (Blue Bulls), Tiger Mangweni (Blue Bulls), Wynand Olivier (Blue Bulls), Jongi Nokwe (Cheetahs), Andries Bekker (Western Province), Bjorn Basson (Griquas), Michael Killian (Golden Lions), Doppies la Grange (Golden Lions)
5 - Waylon Murray (Sharks), Ernie Kruger (Valke), Sarel Pretorius (Griquas), Jaco Pretorius (Golden Lions), Earl Rose (Golden Lions)

Having become only the ninth Welshman to pick up a Heineken Cup winners medal, Gethin Jenkins is now getting ready for his next challenge - holding on to his British & Irish Lions Test spot.

Lions skipper Sam Warburton says the lessons he and his Welsh colleagues learnt in Australia last summer will stand them in good stead for their return visit with Britain and Ireland's elite next month.