Lions suffer another loss in Super Rugby

The Lions suffered another loss in the Vodacom Super Rugby when Cell C Sharks beat them in the ninth round on their home ground.

The KwaZulu-Natalians beat a plucky Lions side by 25-12 in front of more than 30 000 people at Ellis Park in Johannesburg on Saturday April 12. It was a battle of attrition and the visitors from Durban scored the only try of the match.

The Cell C Sharks ground out their sixth win of the Vodacom Super Rugby season to stay at the top of the standings, but for the other three South African teams in action this weekend, the ninth round wasn’t a happy one.

Earlier on Saturday, the Toyota Cheetahs put up a brave fight, but for a second successive week they fell off the pace in the final ten minutes, as they lost by 52-31 to the Crusaders in Bloemfontein – the team from Canterbury’s first win in the Free State Stadium for seven years.

On Friday morning, the Vodacom Bulls could not put an end to a seven-year drought in Dunedin as they paid the price for making way too many errors with ball in hand and on defence as they went down by 27-20 to the Highlanders.

The DHL Stormers had a bye.

Lions 12 (6) Cell C Sharks 25 (6)

The Cell C Sharks remained patient and kept the pressure up as they won their first away game of the season by beating the Lion.

It was a typical South African derby. At half-time, the teams were deadlocked at 6-6 as both sides made mistakes but also defended very well. All the points were scored through penalty goals by the two flyhalves, Marnitz Boshoff and Fred Zeilinga, who limped off with an injury in the first half.

It took two massive penalty goals by Frans Steyn to take the Cell C Sharks back into the lead in the second half before they pounced on probably their best try-scoring opportunity of the match.

Former Springbok Sevens player Sibusiso Sithole forced a brilliant turn-over, before Lwazi Mvovo chipped and gathered to score the only try of the match, with less than 15 minutes left on the clock.

Up to that point, the Cell C Sharks had steadily built up the pressure on the Lions, but the home team deserves a lot of credit as they kept on trying for the full 80 minutes.

Ultimately they were denied by yet another superb defensive effort by the Durbanites, who have conceded only eight tries in their seven matches this year.

Scorers:

Lions – Penalty goals: Marnitz Boshoff (4).

Cell C Sharks – Try: Lwazi Mvovo. Conversion: Frans Steyn. Penalty goals: Fred Zeilinga (2), Steyn (4).