Lions win Ellis Park shoot-out
The angry warthog, replacement hooker Armand van der Merwe, charged over for the game's only try on full-time, as the Lions edged the Bulls 22-18 in a thrilling Super Rugby encounter at Ellis Park on Saturday.
In a see-saw trans-Jukskei derby the Lions and Bulls exchanged penalties for 78 minutes, before a late rally produced the match-winning moment.
Trailing by three points with time running out in damp Johannesburg, the Lions gambled by taking a tap penalty rather than a kick at goal that would almost certainly have ensured a draw.
Little substitute scrumhalf Francois de Klerk caught the slow-to-retreat Bulls napping at Ellis Park with his tap-and-go penalty and passed to Van der Merwe, who barged over near the post.
Flyhalf Elton Jantjies converted to make a 17-point contribution having succeeded with five of seven penalty attempts in challenging conditions.
Rival playmaker Jacques-Louis Potgieter, deputising for injured Springbok Handré Pollard, kicked six penalties for the Bulls from eight shots at goal.
Ironically, the Bulls benefited more from collecting a losing bonus point than the Lions did from gathering four for the victory.
But the Lions' fourth win in five outings - three of them on an Australasia tour - lifted them just one place to 10th in the overall.
Only two points separate the Bulls and the Lions in the South African conference, though, with the Sharks and the Stormers in between.
There was never more than six points between the Johannesburg-based Lions and the Pretoria-based Bulls in a gripping derby watched by a vibrant Easter weekend crowd.
Lions skipper and No. 8 Warren Whiteley said he was happy with the risky tap-and-go decision.
"That is the nature of this wonderful bunch of guys - they all want to fight to the end for victory," he said.
"Maybe we were a bit lucky, but luck has not always been with us this season.
"It is easy leading these Lions. This was our eighth consecutive match and the spirit among us remains remarkably high."
Bulls skipper and No. 8 Pierre Spies admitted his team thought they had triumphed after Potgieter kicked a 79th-minute penalty for a three-point advantage.
"We thought we had it! We forgot that matches last 80 minutes and not 79 minutes," he lamented.
"The guys did enough to win, but a few close calls went against us."
After Jantjies kicked two first-half penalties, Potgieter slotted three to give the Bulls a 9-6 half-time lead.
The Lions led 12-9 and the Bulls led 15-12 in a see-saw second-half struggle before Jantjies equalised with his fifth successful penalty six minutes from time.
Potgieter nudged the Bulls back in front on 79 minutes only for quick-reacting De Klerk and Van der Merwe to combine for the match-winning try.
Man of the match: Trevor Nyakane and Adriaan Strauss had their best games since arriving at the Bulls this season. Hanro Liebenberg continued to impress in his remarkable debut season. Pierre Spies played a very tight, physical game and was very effective at it - even winning a turnover at the breakdown. You can always bank on the Lion' loose forwards to be stand-out players - Warren Whiteley, Warwick Tecklenburg and Derick Minnie monsters on defence and at the breakdown. Harold Vorster kept the Bulls' defence honest, while Franco Mostert again produced a mammoth workrate. In fact that an be said of the entire Lions pack. We were very tempted to give it to Warwick Tecklenburg, and he is certainly deserved of such an accolade. However, our award goes to Lions flyhalf Elton Jantjies. Not only was he calm and collected under huge pressure, but his goal-kicking in testing conditions is what kept his team in the contest long-enough for the bench-boys to come on and win it.
The scorers:
For the Lions:
Try: Van der Merwe
Con: Jantjies
Pens: Jantjies 5
For the Bulls:
Pens: Potgieter 6
Teams:
Lions: 15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Ruan Combrinck, 13 Lionel Mapoe, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Anthony Volmink, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Ross Cronje, 8 Warren Whiteley (captain), 7 Warwick Tecklenburg, 6 Derick Minnie, 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Andries Ferreira, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 Robbie Coetzee, 1 Jacques van Rooyen.
Replacements: 16 Armand van der Merwe, 17 Corne Fourie, 18 Julian Redelinghuys, 19 Robert Kruger, 20 Jaco Kriel, 21 Francois de Klerk, 22 Marnitz Boshoff, 23 Howard Mnisi.
Bulls: 15 Jesse Kriel, 14 Francois Hougaard, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Burger Odendaal, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Jacques-Louis Potgieter, 9 Rudy Paige, 8 Pierre Spies (captain), 7 Hanro Liebenberg, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Grant Hattingh, 4 Jacques du Plessis, 3 Trevor Nyakane, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Dean Greyling.
Replacements: 16 Callie Visagie, 17 Morné Mellett, 18 Marcel van der Merwe, 19 Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg, 20 Roelof Smit, 21 Piet van Zyl, 22 Tian Schoeman, 23 Jurgen Visser.
Referee: Jaco van Heerden
Assistant referees: Jason Jaftha, Stephan Geldenhuys
TMO: Shaun Veldsman