Lions end their Durban drought
MATCH REPORT: The Lions ended a near seven-year drought in Durban, producing a second-half comeback to snatch a crucial 20-18 United Rugby Championship win over the Sharks.
Coming back 3-18 down at half-time, the Lions relied on their forwards to win penalties and set up scoring opportunities - the match-winning try coming from a powerful driving maul in the 78th minute.
In the opening half the Sharks had 70 percent of the territory, even though the possession was shared evenly.
That allowed the home to run freely at the opposition, with the Sharks' defence equally as impressive.
The Lions didn't do themselves any favours with their high error count and tactical naïvety. Their problems were compounded by the 12 missed tackles and poor tackles success rate of just over 80 percent.
It also didn't help that captain Marius Louw's poor handling - which made him the player that produced the most knock-ons last season - was on full display again.
With their line-outs also malfunctioning, the visitors had to rely on their scrums for some momentum.
However, late in the game the Lions resolved their line-out issues and found parity in terms of territory and possession.
The win saw the Lions move to 11th place on the standings, with 23 points - within touching distance of the eight-placed Ospreys (25 points).
In contrast, the Sharks remain rooted at the bottom of the table.
* To recap all the drama, CLICK HERE!
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It was a nervous start by both teams - the Lions letting the kick-off roll into touch near their own line and the Sharks' hands letting them down on attack.
The Lions had the first real scoring opportunity - a quick tap by scrumhalf Morné van den Berg after a penalty forcing the Sharks to concede a deliberate foul in front of their posts.
Flyhalf Sanele Nohamba slotted this one for a 3-0 lead after eight minutes.
Lions captain Marius Louw was penalised for a no-arms tackle, Curwin Bosch levelling the scores at 3-all after 12 minutes.
The Sharks continued to dominate territory, pinning the Lions deep inside their territory with clever tactical play.
Just past the quarter-hour mark the home team made their territorial dominance count - great hands sending Makazole Mapimpi over the left corner. Bosch added the conversion - 10-3 after 23 minutes.
On the half-hour mark, Bosch added a drop-goal to stretch that lead to 10 points - 13-3.
Soon afterwards, with the Lions' defence already compromised inside their 22, the Sharks' Springbok utility Grant Williams - playing in the No.9 jersey - sniped around the blinds side for a sublime individualistic try. Bosch was wide with the conversion - making it 18-3 for the home team, which was also the half-time score.
Some early scrum dominance allowed Nohamba to take a shot at posts five minutes into the second half, but he fell short from 45 metres out.
However, it did allow the Lions some favourable territory, which resulted in a penalty try and a yellow card to lock Gerbrandt Grobler for cynically collapsing the maul near his line.
Just short of the hour mark Nohamba narrowed the gap to five points (13-18) with a penalty for a tackle offence.
The Lions produced a better territorial game after the break, but their execution continued to let them down.
With six minutes remaining Nohamba, after another tackle penalty, hooked his attempt past the left upright.
Two minutes later they opted to set up a line-out from a penalty and this time they worked their way over, captain Marius Louw on the back of a powerful maul. Nohamba nailed the conversion from near tough - 20-18 with two minutes remaining.
From the restart, Eben Etzebeth won a penalty for his team, but Boeta Chamberlain pushed it across the face of the posts and the Lions won a thrilling encounter 20-18.
Man of the match: Sharks fullback Aphelele Fassi asked plenty of questions of the Lions' defence, while midfielders Lukhanyo Am and Francois Venter were at the heart of the home team's tactical superiority. They were well assisted by flyhalf Curwin Bosch - having his best game of the season - pulling the strings. Two-time World Cup-winning lock Eben Etzebeth showed his quality and provided the spark for the Sharks. His unrelenting effort eventually saw him suffering from cramps in the final quarter. Francke Horn, carrying impressively on the wing, Emmanuel Tshituka with his amazing work rate, and young Ruan Venter's all-round game were the most productive players. Flyhalf-cum-scrumhalf Sanele Nohamba was also a pivotal player. However, the Lions' scrum - first Asenathi Ntlabakanye, PJ Botha and JP Smith, then Jaco Visagie, Morgan Naudé and Ruan Smith - was the most impressive aspect of the visitors' game.
The scorers
For the Sharks
Tries: Mapimpi, Williams
Con: Bosch
Pen: Bosch
DG: Bosch
For the Lions
Tries: Penalty try, Louw
Cons: Penalty try does not require a conversion, Nohamba
Pens: Nohamba 2
Yellow card: Gerbrandt Grobler (Sharks, 53 - cynical foul, illegally collapsing maul near his line)
Teams
Sharks: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Werner Kok, 13 Lukhanyo Am (captain), 12 Francois Venter, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Curwin Bosch, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Phepsi Buthelezi, 7 Lappies Labuschagne, 6 James Venter, 5 Gerbrandt Grobler, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Hanro Jacobs, 2 Fez Mbatha, 1 Ox Nche.
Replacements: 16 Kerron van Vuuren, 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18 Joel Hintz, 19 Corne Rahl, 20 George Cronje, 21 Jaden Hendrikse, 22 Boeta Chamberlain, 23 Rohan Janse van Rensburg
Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Richard Kriel, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Marius Louw (captain), 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Sanele Nohamba, 9 Morné van den Berg, 8 Francke Horn, 7 Ruan Venter, 6 Emmanuel Tshituka, 5 Darrien Landsberg, 4 Ruben Schoeman, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 PJ Botha, 1 JP Smith.
Replacements: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 Morgan Naudé, 18 Ruan Smith, 19 Reinhard Nothnagel, 20 Hanru Sirgel, 21 JC Pretorius, 22 Jordan Hendrikse, 23 Rynhardt Jonker.
Referees: Morné Ferreira
Assistant referees: Cwengile Jadezweni & Stephan Geldenhuys
TMO: Quinton Immelman
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* Picture credit: @LionsRugbyCo