Lions back in Cup contention

NAIL-BITER: HOME SIDE EDGE GRITTY PUMAS BY A POINT

Skipper relieved to clinch second victory of the season.

Golden Lions skipper Jacques van Rooyen could not hide his relief at the weekend after his side finally picked up a crucial win following four straight defeats.

The Lions stormed back into Currie Cup contention following their second victory of the competition with a narrow 29-28 win over the Pumas at Ellis Park on Saturday.

Though their 15 points still left them in bottom place, they were just two points behind Western Province and the Pumas.

“I think after the previous weekend’s last-minute loss to the Cheetahs we would have taken any win,” a delighted Van Rooyen said.

“I’m proud of the boys but the Pumas deserve a lot of credit too. They are always a tough side and they were hanging in until the last minute.”

The Lions scored in the first minute through No 8 Ryan Kankowski before a see-saw battle took place, with the teams trading tries.

The Lions eventually outscored the visitors by five tries to four.

“I think the main thing for us is to play an exciting brand,” Van Rooyen said.

“Sometimes we make silly errors in doing that but our main goal is to score awesome tries, and I think we did that this weekend.

“Hopefully in the next couple of weeks we can clean it up a bit more when we need to and finish off those chances.”

Despite receiving two yellow cards against centre Jerome Pretorius and Hugo Kloppers, Pumas skipper Hennie Skorbinski was pleased his side kept up the fight.

“I’m proud of the boys. We came out fighting,” Skorbinski said.

“But all the credit to the Lions. They are a good side and were definitely challenging.

“One-on-one mistakes cost us and it’s always something to work on, but we are keeping it there and fighting and showing we are competitive.”