Lions back to winning ways at home
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A polished display from the Lions has seen them defeat the Bulls for the first time ever in Super Rugby by 32-21
Two tries, one from Alwyn Hollenbach and one from Warwick Tecklenburg, as well as Marnitz Boshoff's measured boot kept the home team just in front of the Bulls for most of the game.
Boshoff kicked four penalties as well as two drop-goals and a couple of conversions to give him a personal tally of 22 points.
The Lions dominated right from the beginning but had to deal with a fightback from the visitors in the game's closing stages.
The home side thought the game was in the bag when Warwick Tecklenburg scored a try in the 68th minute but the Bulls struck back with two late tries from substitute William Small-Smith and Jaques du Plessis.
However, a late penalty from Boshoff secured the win for the Lions and also snatched away the Bulls chance at a losing bonus-point.
The men from Johannesburg had a perfect start and, after working the ball through several phases from the kick-off, took a 3-0 lead thanks to a the first of Boshoff's drop goals.
A few minutes later, the Bulls forwards were penalised for poor scrummaging and Boshoff added another three, this time from the kicking tee.
The Bulls had an opportunity to narrow the gap, after Warren Whiteley was penalised for a line out infringement, but Jacques-Louis Potgieter's first shot at goal was wide of the target.
The Lions kept up the pressure and were 9-0 up when Boshoff popped over his second penalty; this was the spark the visitors needed to increase their intensity on attack.
The Bulls were soon camped inside their hosts' 22. They were unlucky not to score a try when Akona Ndungane made the initial break and was stopped on the Lions' five-mere line but managed to offload to Jurgen Visser, who spilled the ball over the line.
Three minutes later the Bulls thought this time they had their first try when Bjorn Basson crossed over, but his effort was disallowed after the TMO ruled that he was in touch.
The Bulls' physical dominance was eventually rewarded when Potgieter nailed a penalty. Despite further attacking efforts into their opponents' 22, they could not get over the try-line.
Another Potgieter penalty, was all they had to show for their efforts and the Lions went into half time leading 9-6.
The Bulls got the first points of the second half through another Potgieter penalty in the but the Lions didn't take long regained the initiative from the restart.
Warren Whiteley did brilliantly to regain possession from the kick off and offloaded to Alwyn Hollenbach inside the Bulls' 22. Hollenbach still had work to do as he sold two defenders with a dummy before smashing through a defender to dot down for the try.
Boshoff converted to give the hosts a 16-9 lead and the Lions seemed to grow in confidence as the match progressed.
They were dominating the Bulls now in the physical aspects, which seemed to surprise the visitors.
The Lions spent most plenty of time inside the Bulls half and were rewarded with Boshoff's second drop goal, he followed that up with his third penalty three minutes later.
The Bulls were feeling the pressure and suffered a further setback when Tecklenburg was on hand to score after Elton Jantjies tore the Bulls defence to shreds from inside his half.
Jantjies put Hanekom in some space but after he was hauled in by the cover defence, right on the try line, he offloaded to Tecklenburg who flopped over the line.
Boshoff added the conversion, the Bulls fought back, a little too late.
Small-Smith scored one for the Bulls, after Bongi Mbonambi did well with a pace run inside the Lions' 22 in the build-up.
A few minutes later, Du Plessis then shrugged off several defenders before crossing over for his side's second try.
Potgieter converted, to make the score 29-21, the Bulls were still in with a shout of at leas gaining a bonus-point.
It wasn't to be, as Boshoff sealed the win for the home side with a 79th minute penalty after the visitors were pinged for a scrummaging infringement.
Man of the Match: Warren Whiteley was a great presence on the field, his touches and skill aiding the Lions in getting the ball going. Jaco Kriel was also very busy along side his captain but the award has to go to Marnitz Boshoff, his drop-goals kept the score board ticking and his game management and command of his team was impeccable.
The scorers:
For the Lions:
Tries: Hollenbach, Tecklenburg
Cons: Boshoff 2
Pens: Boshoff 4
DGs: Boshoff 2
For the Bulls:
Tries: Small-Smith, Du Plessis
Con: Potgieter
Pens: Potgieter 3
Teams:
Lions: 15 Coenie van Wyk, 14 Courtnall Skosan, 13 Nicolaas Hanekom, 12 Alwyn Hollenbach, 11 Chrysander Botha, 10 Marnitz Boshoff, 9 Ross Cronje, 8 Warren Whiteley (captain), 7 Warwick Tecklenburg, 6 Jaco Kriel, 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Rudi Mathee, 3 Julian Redelinghuys, 2 Robbie Coetzee, 1 Schalk van der Merwe.
Replacements: 16 Armand van der Merwe, 17 Corne Fourie, 18 Ruan Dreyer, 19 Willie Britz , 20 Derick Minnie, 21 Francois de Klerk, 22 Elton Jantjies, 23 Deon van Rensburg.
Bulls: 15 Jurgen Visser, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Jan Serfontein, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Jacques-Louis Potgieter, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Jacques Engelbrecht, 7 Jacques du Plessis, 6 Jono Ross, 5 Grant Hattingh, 4 Flip van der Merwe (captain), 3 Marcel van der Merwe, 2 Callie Visagie, 1 Dean Greyling.
Replacements: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Werner Kruger, 18 Morné Mellett, 19 Paul Willemse, 20 Wimpie van der Walt), 21 Piet van Zyl, 22 Louis Fouché, 23 William-Small Smith.
Referee: Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Lourens van der Merwe (South Africa), Sieg van Staden (South Africa)
TMO: Marius Jonker (South Africa)
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