Lions show roar power
THE touring Lions made history when the Johannesburgbased franchise scored a 36-32 victory over the Chiefs at the FMG Stadium in Waikato yesterday, after leading 19-11 at half-time.
Never before in Super Rugby had the Lions managed a win at Waikato, and given the manner they achieved their landmark feat, they would also have won over the hearts of the home crowd in this high-scoring thriller.
Both sides managed four tries but, in the end, the boot of Lions flyhalf Elton Jantjies made the difference for an eventual four-point victory margin in a match where the lead changed hands five times.
The Lions’ defence faced a testing period in early secondhalf play when the Chiefs clawed their way back from a 24-11 deficit to a 25-24 lead ahead of the hour mark, but the tourists responded with a fightback which produced tries by Warren Whiteley (57 min) and Ruan Combrinck (65) in the space of seven minutes.
Jantjies and his halfback partner Faf de Klerk were at the heart of the team’s inspired performance, which ensured that the Lions continued on their winning ways after last week’s 26-13 triumph over the Sunwolves in Tokyo.
The Lions’ power at scrum time was always in evidence, though this aspect was merely one of many admirable facets that contributed to a fine allround performance.
Replacement flyhalf Hayden Parker kicked a penalty with five minutes remaining to give the Highlanders a 17-16 win over the Hurricanes in a reprise of last year’s Super Rugby final.
The Dunedin-based Highlanders had been trailing 16-14 when Parker kicked the goal that gave the defending champions their first win in 2016.
The Hurricanes had trailed 14-6 after half-time, but the Wellington team went ahead through a try by captain TJ Perenara, a conversion and penalty to Beauden Barrett.
The Highlanders had two tries disallowed around the 69th minute – one for a forward pass, the other for grounding short of the line – before Parker hit the winning points.
The Hurricanes are winless after two games, but improved on their big defeat against the Brumbies in the first round.
The Highlanders led 11-6 at half-time, after a try to centre Malakai Fekitoa. Flyhalf Lima Sopoaga kicked two penalties before the break, then added another for a 14-6 lead.
The touring Rebels staged a commendable second-half fightback, but it was not enough to undo the first-half damage inflicted by the Bulls, who ran out 45-25 winners at Loftus Versfeld.
In the first half, the Bulls threatened a rout by scoring unanswered tries through Bjorn Basson (10 min), Nick de Jager (18), Travis Ismaiel (37) and Jannes Kirsten (39).
Bulls flyhalf Francois Brummer was on target with all the conversion attempts.
The Rebels’ only score reply was a lone penalty in the second minute by their No 10, Jack Debreczeni (28-3).
The match appeared over as a contest a mere five minutes into the second half when Bulls winger Basson ran in two more tries in the space of four minutes. With Brummer on song from the kicking tee, the scoreline was boosted by 14 points to 42-3.
What followed was completely unforeseen as the Rebels picked themselves up in remarkable fashion and scored four tries in a 21-minute passage of play through Jonah Placid (47 min), Ben Meehan (51), James Hanson (55) and Ben Meehan again (68).
Debreczeni could only manage one conversion, and this 22-point surge wasn’t enough to wrest the result from their hosts, but it did deny them a bonus-point victory.
During this frenetic spell, the Bulls’ only advance was a 62nd minute Brummer penalty.
Stormers lock Eben Etzebeth outjumped the Cheetahs lineout to set up a 20-10 win in Bloemfontein yesterday, writes Zelim Nel.
Man-of-the-match Etzebeth and fellow Stormers locks Pieter-Steph du Toit and JD Schickerling teamed up to raid the Cheetahs lineout and break the deadlock created by a colossal scrum battle.
The Stormers scored two tries, through rookie wing Leolin Zas and openside flank Sikhumbuzo, while flyhalf Robert du Preez kicked one conversion, and his replacement, Kurt Coleman, added eight points with two penalties and one conversion.
Cheetahs flyhalf Fred Zeilinga converted captain Frans Venter’s try and added one penalty.
Etzebeth was on the receiving end of eight throw-ins as the Stormers won 13 of 15 lineouts, and the 44-Test Springbok jumper shot down three consecutive Cheetahs feeds in the first half, and poached one more in the last quarter.
Du Toit and Schickerling also got in on the action in the second half, stealing four more Cheetahs balls.
The result was that the home side’s attack was starved of possession at source, and their scramble defence was put under constant pressure. – ANA, AP, Reuters and own correspondents