Flanker Jaco Kriel scored a match-winning try four minutes from time to hand South Africa’s Lions a thrilling 34-29 Super Rugby victory over compatriots the Sharks in a see-saw Super Rugby clash at Ellis Park on Saturday.
Last year’s beaten finalists secured a ninth home victory in a row as they also scored tries through hooker Malcolm Marx and wing Courtnall Skosan, while five-eighth Elton Jantjies added two conversions and four penalties.
The Sharks will rue poor discipline but bagged tries through prop Coenie Oosthuizen and wing Cobus van Wyk as teenage playmaker Curwin Bosch shone with the boot with 19 points.
The visitors held a narrow 16-13 lead at halftime but should have been comfortably ahead with lock Etienne Oosthuizen at the centre of two incidents that kept the Lions in the hunt.
The Sharks were leading through Bosch’s penalty before they scored the game’s first try, having dominated the early physical exchanges.
Wing Van Wyk broke through the Lions’ defensive line and fed prop Coenie Oosthuizen, who had enough strength to hold off a challenge from Lions skipper Warren Whiteley.
The teams traded penalties, before the Sharks looked to have extended their lead further when centre Andre Esterhuizen crossed the tryline in the corner.
But the television match official rightly ruled that lock Oosthuizen had cleaned out a Lions player around the neck at a ruck in the build-up, and the score was ruled out.
Etienne Oosthuizen was penalised again for a similar offence a minute before the break and this time received a yellow card.
The Lions kicked for touch and their numerical advantage in the forwards saw Marx barge over from the resulting lineout.
The home side took the lead, with Oosthuizen still off the field, early in the second half when scrumhalf Faf de Klerk found space and fed speedster Skosan to score in the corner.
A drop-goal from Coetzee extended the home lead to seven, but Van Wyk’s try and Bosch’s conversion levelled the score once more.
The teams again traded penalties before Bosch used the altitude of the Highveld to land a 70-yard three-pointer with 10 minutes, only for Jantjies to level again.
But the home side would not be denied and when Kriel broke down the touchline, he was able to canter home in the corner for the winning score.
Baylion
Roar Rookie
The Lions was probably lucky to come away with the win but I'll take it. Overall, I thought it was a great, hard fought match and the two 19 year olds came through very well. The sharks #10, Curwin Bosch, made a statement of intent and has stepped up into the big leagues while the Lions #14, Madosh Tambwe, showed he is quite capable of putting in the hard graft needed at this level. Both should feature for the Junior Boks in the JRWC. The Lions, Sharks and Jaguares is in a battle for two potential spots in the play-offs and that battle still has a way to go
Baylion
Roar Rookie
"...TV producers want them to see" BTW the TV producers work for SuperSport, a 49% shareholder of the Sharks franchise :) Anyway, these high tackle decisions are becoming a bit ridiculous and, in this match, had a major impact on the result. The Lions were probably a bit lucky to come away with the win.
cuw
Guest
this is another match this weekend ruined by one-sided reffing and in this case as opposed to the reds match , the sharks lost !!! there was one lifting tackle that was ignored when a penalty was given to lions and a try disallowed for sharks. how come that was not even looked at??? and the shark 4 was a marked man - everything he did was penalized by the ref and tmo. if u doubt me have a look at the so called high tackle just before lions scored their 2nd penalty. and then compare with a lions tackle around 67 minuted which is worse but ignored by tmo and shown to be shoulder by ref. my bigger grouse is that lions get this kind of reffing always. can anyone remember the matches against crusaders and the next against stormers last year?? both captains were pissed off at the ref. i maybe a nobody - but when Nik mallet says the sharks got the short end of decisions , there must be something wrong. am sure the rastaman would have reffed much better. he did a great job in the other match - stormers v cheetahs. of all this weekend matches gardner and the saffer ref were the worst. i thought the jap ref did well - considering last year his english was not that good , but seems he has improved on that.
wyn
Guest
"But the television match official rightly ruled that lock Oosthuizen had cleaned out a Lions player around the neck" - they really are stretching these decisions. This was as innocuous as the 2nd one leading to the yellow card and basically won the game for the Lions. The viewers are only fed what the TMO and TV producers want them to see. Technically the penalties for those infringements would stand up in court similar to a 3km/hr speeding infringement down a hill past a strategically located camera would, but I have no doubt that similar infringements by the Lions were not picked up or simply glossed over. I'm outraged by that rubbish and I'm not even a Shark's fan.