News
Lions stun Pretoria
August 08 2008
The Lions pulled off a heroic 30-27 Currie Cup victory over the Blue Bulls in Pretoria on Friday, throwing the Currie Cup even wider open than before.
The win lifted the Lions to third place on the standings while the Blue Bulls crashed to fourth place after having occupied first place coming into this encounter.
But the Bulls will have nobody to blame but themselves as they allowed the Lions to dictate proceedings from the start and even when they did try to fight back in the latter stages of the second half, it was not enough for the home side to pull victory out of the jaws of defeat.
The Lions raced to an ealry 3-0 lead through a Earl Rose penalty but the Bulls were back on level terms in the sixth minute through a Morne Steyn penalty.
It was the Lions again who showed intent when Rose struck his second kick of the evening in the eighth minute but the Bulls drew first blood when zane Kirchner scored a sublime try after collecting a well-timed kick from Steyn.
There was plenty of confrontation in the moments after Kirchner's try and it was the Lions that seemed to be on top and were well rewarded for their efforts when hooker Willie Wepener crashed over inthe corner to regain the lead for the visitors.
Steyn once again kept the Bulls up to speed with another penalty that levelled the score at 13-all but the Lions, against the run of play, stole the ball from the Bulls in their 22 and Jaco Pretorius sprinted the length of the field to score.
It was the Lions who got out off the blocks quicker than the Bulls in the second half, increasing their lead further when flank Franco van der Merwe raced to the line to score an unconverted try for the Lions, and Wepener was once again in the thick of things when he scored the bonus point and winning try for the Lions.
The Blue Bulls tried to breathe some life into their ailing cause with two tries, the first from substitute Burton Francis in the 60th minute and the second from Pedrie Wannenburg four minutes later, to bring some respectability to the scoreline.
The scorers:
For the Blue Bulls:
Tries: Kirchner, Francis, Wannenburg
Cons: Steyn 3
Pens: Steyn 2
For the Lions:
Tries: Wepener 2, Pretorius, Van der Merwe
Cons: Rose 2
Pens: Rose 2
Blue Bulls: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 Marius Delport, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 John Mametsa, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 JP Joubertm, 8 Pedrie Wannenburg, 7 Wikus van Heerden (c), 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Wilhelm Steenkamp, 4 Danie Rossouw, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Bandise Maku, 1 Gurthrö Steenkamp.
Replacements: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 Rayno Gerber, 18 Francois van Schouwenburg, 19 Jaco Engels, 20 Francois Hougaard, 21 Burton Francis, 22 Jacques Burger.
Lions: 15 Louis Ludik, 14 Michael Killian, 13 Jaco Pretorius, 12 Doppies la Grange, 11 Rayno Benjamin, 10 Earl Rose, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 Willem Alberts, 7 Franco van der Merwe, 6 Cobus Grobbelaar (captain), 5 Gerhard Mostert, 4 Anton van Zyl, 3 Lawrence Sephaka, 2 Willie Wepener, 1 Heinke van der Merwe.
Replacements: 16 Ethienne Reynecke, 17 Gert Muller, 18 Ernst Joubert, 19 Justin Wheeler, 20 Chris Jonck, 21 Louis Strydom, 22 Jaco van Schalkwyk.
Referee: Craig Joubert
Touch judges: Jaco Peyper, Cobus Wessels
Television match official: Johann Meuwesen
Assessor: Theuns Naude