A brave Lions team held off a fierce attack on their try line by the Blues over the weekend in a Super Rugby fixture.
The Lions played the Blues at Ellis Park on Saturday March 15 in front of their home crowd to walk away victorious by 39-36. The win nudged them back on track following defeats against the Cell C Sharks and Vodacom Bulls.
The local side had a banger of a first half in which no points were scored in 30 minutes in the first half. The home side crossed the Blues try line in the 33rd minute, when hardworking scrumhalf Faf de Klerk dotted down, followed by the conversion by flyhalf Marnitz Boshoff. At this stage the Blues were reduced to 14 men following a professional foul by Charlie Faumuina. This was then followed by a Marnitz Boshoff drop-goal and a Courtnall Skosan try to hand the hosts an encouraging 17-0 half-time lead.
The Lions destroyed the visitors in the scrums and showed fantastic innovation on attack. This was supported by another fine performance by flyhalf Marnitz Boshoff, who contributed a total of 24 points with the boot, which included three conversions, two drop goals and four penalties.
Boshoff wasted no time adding to their score in the second half with another drop goal, while the Blues woes continued with lock Tom Donnelly receiving a yellow card for a dangerous entry at a ruck.
With the chips down and the pressure rising, the Blues soon found their rhythm as they stepped up their performances in the scrums and started running with the ball. The reward for this was five second-half tries and a shot at winning the match.
Three second-half penalties by Boshoff and a lucky try by Coenie van Wyk, however, proved to be enough to shut out the Blues and earn the Lions their third victory in five outings.
The victory for the Lions was their first against the Blues since the decision to discard the Cats name at the end of the 2006 season, and it marked their third win against the Blues since the inception of the Super 12 in 1996.
The team’s only victories against the Blues were in 2001 and 2000, in which they won 26-23 and 34-27 respectively, when they still fell under the Cats banner with the Free State players.
Boshoff’s contribution with the boot allowed him to extend his lead on the top point-scorer’s list to 40 over his Toyota Cheetahs counterpart Johan Goosen.
Lions 39 (17) Blues 36 (0)
Scorers:
Lions – Tries: Courtnall Skosan, Francois de Klerk, Coenie Van Wyk. Conversions: Marnitz Boshoff (3).Drop Goals: Boshoff (2). Penalties: Boshoff (4).
Blues – Tries: Charles Piutau, Bryn Hall, Frank Halai, George Moala, Benji Marshall. Conversion: Chris Noakes (2). Penalty: Chris Noakes
The Cell C Sharks stretched their winning streak in the Vodacom Super Rugby competition to four matches, while the Lions bounced back strongly from back-to-back defeats to overpower the Blues and force their way into fourth place on the combined log table.
South Africa’s touring teams, the DHL Stormers and Toyota Cheetahs, however, continued to struggle in Australasia as they suffered another round of defeats leaving them both winless on their tours so far.
A strong first half by the Cell C Sharks and a flawless kicking performance by flyhalf Pat Lambie and centre Frans Steyn set up the Durban-based side for their 35-20 victory against the Reds at Growthpoint Kings Park.
Overseas, the DHL Stormers hopes of celebrating captain Jean de Villiers’ impressive milestone of 100 Vodacom Super Rugby matches with a victory were dashed as they had to settle for a disappointing 36-20 defeat against the Chiefs in Hamilton, while the Toyota Cheetahs were on the receiving end of their biggest defeat yet on tour after going down 60-27 against the Hurricanes in Wellington.
The Stormers’ defeat marked their third of the season and their second in as many matches on tour, while the Cheetahs suffered their third successive tour defeat, which left the teams at the foot of the combined log table with only five points a piece.
The Vodacom Bulls, meanwhile, had a bye.
Other results – Round 5:
Rebels 19 -25 Crusaders (Melbourne)
Highlanders 29 – 31 Force (Dunedin)
Brumbies 28 -23 Waratahs (Canberra)
