Lions’ late rally sinks Cheetahs
14 Aug 2010
Two tries in the last five minutes secured the Lions a 30-26 victory over the Cheetahs at Ellis Park.
Elton Jantjies and Jannie Boshoff rescued what looked a lost cause for the Lions, the former putting on an expert all round performance for one so young.
The Cheetahs will lament poor defence in the dying minutes, after resisting well for most of the match. The Lions squandered good scoring opportunities and a more accomplished side would have capitalised on those errors.
The try count reflects that both sides acquitted themselves well enough in defence, but then the attacking play was hardly testing and was marked by a plethora of fundamental errors.
The hosts were the worse in this regard, seeking to play expansively from anywhere on the track. They largely lacked penetration because of their refusal to establish an attacking platform through phase play. This often exposed their ball carriers at the breakdown and offered the Cheetahs chances to slow or turn over possession. What infuriates is that when they did build patiently through phases, as was evident in their tries, they look a very competent side.
The Cheetahs were more structured and controlled the ball better through phases, but their failure to breach the gain line initially meant their possession counted for very little.
Louis Strydom took them into an early lead with three penalties, but that advantage was quickly cut to three points by Lions flyhalf Jantjies’ boot. Jantjies then produced a touch that would have had his backline coach Carlos Spencer smiling, chipping the rushing defensive line to put Deon van Rensburg clean through on goal. He duly converted to give the Lions a 13-9 half-time lead.
The Cheetahs’ response was immediate, Ashley Johnson scoring after a powerful 5m scrum. Strydom converted and added another penalty for a 50th minute 19-13 lead.
The Lions crafted the better chances in the period that followed, none more so than a 12-phase move. It, however, ended with Jano Vermaak spilling a pass forward with the tryline in sight. It summed up the amatuerish errors that continue to undermine the cause of John Mitchell’s side.
Jantjies bank three points, but a Kobus Calso converted try 13 minutes from full time, marked by some poor one-on-one defending, gave the Cheetahs a comfortable 10-point buffer.
But Jantjies set up a tense last five minutes when he converted his own try in the corner, and two minutes later the Lions snatched victory when Jannie Boshoff chased a Michael Killian punt and grabbed a fortuitous bounce to score. Jantjies sent the touchline conversion sailing over and the Lions held on for a rare victory.
177 Comments
Pages: « 1 2 [3] 4 » Show All
14 Aug 2010, 18:22 pm
@JKBridge(JKBridge)-93: 9-6 to Wee Pee
14 Aug 2010, 18:23 pm
i doubt any 1 will score a try today
but the team that does will win the game
14 Aug 2010, 18:23 pm
i’m calling this game for the Bulls
THATS RIGHT, I SAID IT
14 Aug 2010, 18:24 pm
12 – 6 Province
14 Aug 2010, 18:24 pm
12-6 wp
14 Aug 2010, 18:24 pm
@Senga(Senga)-104: WELL DONE Senga
pitty abt your altitude talk
14 Aug 2010, 18:24 pm
Fourie on for Liebenburg
lets see what difference this makes
how old is Fourie?
14 Aug 2010, 18:26 pm
Fadge Mabeta on
nt sure who he replaced
i noticed his would somtimes bench as lock during Super 14, but if he was benching today, it means he’s actually 7th choice Lock for Bulls
thats sad
14 Aug 2010, 18:26 pm
@Papoose(papaown)-106: Altitude be kicking in 1 minute…just watch!
14 Aug 2010, 18:26 pm
jaco pretorius is one of the most useless centres in rugby. The guys never does anything on attack.
14 Aug 2010, 18:27 pm
GOOD counter rucking Province
why cant the Boks do this?????
14 Aug 2010, 18:27 pm
GOSH
how can Bulls make 16 phase rugby look SOOO boring
14 Aug 2010, 18:28 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-110: hahahaha
I KNOW
14 Aug 2010, 18:29 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-110: Yeah, he is all action, all movement, for no effect.
Reminds me of Paul Adams – tried everything yet couldn’t get the ball to move off the straight.
14 Aug 2010, 18:29 pm
WOAH
Welsch just gave a HUGE hit on Kirchner
14 Aug 2010, 18:30 pm
JLP just missed a penalty
score 12-6 to Wee Pee
14 Aug 2010, 18:31 pm
Bulls miss a penalty – 12-6 to WP with 15 minutes left.
14 Aug 2010, 18:32 pm
De Waal breathing too heavily
1 poor kick 3 minutes ago, another clearance and he’s breathing quite heavily
time catching up with the old man?
14 Aug 2010, 18:34 pm
another botched kick by de Waal
just GIVING possession back to Bulls
bring on Cronje please
14 Aug 2010, 18:34 pm
@Papoose(papaown)-119: Geo?
14 Aug 2010, 18:36 pm
12-9 to Wee Pee
14 Aug 2010, 18:36 pm
10 minutes to play
a little piece of magic from one side could prove decisive
14 Aug 2010, 18:37 pm
@Senga(Senga)-120: Lionel
who are u dude
this is a RUGBY blog
14 Aug 2010, 18:38 pm
12-9 WP – Potgieter penalty.
14 Aug 2010, 18:40 pm
Bob says WP kicked majority of possesion away
thats NONSENSE, they’ve just made poor kicks in 2nd half cos De Waal is unfit
just caught onto something, the team that makes the poorer kicks in a game get lambasted for kicking everything away, in fact Bulls have kicked more than WP
14 Aug 2010, 18:41 pm
15-9 to Wee Pee
14 Aug 2010, 18:42 pm
Quite fun – the Bulls take the WP 9 out of the ball. The ref calls the Bulls player over, starts lecturing, and the Bulls captain says – OK, laaste een – before the ref has said what he is going to do.
Very sneaky!
14 Aug 2010, 18:43 pm
vermuelen MOM…nick koster anonymous, is he still on the park?
14 Aug 2010, 18:43 pm
JEESH Vermeulen is strong when he goes into contact
he’s difficult to bring down
i dont kow if opposition have studied Spies therby tackling him at the ankles but he always goes down very quickly when he goes into the contact situation
14 Aug 2010, 18:44 pm
15-12 to Wee Pee
3 minutes to go hmmmm
14 Aug 2010, 18:44 pm
@Papoose(papaown)-129: Spies is too upright when running into contact.
14 Aug 2010, 18:44 pm
Must say, this commentary on Radio 2000 is most entertaining with Lawrence Sephaka and Mac Masina.
Think I may use them as my audio source from now on! hehe
14 Aug 2010, 18:45 pm
@TaffyIX(TaffyIX)-132: what language
14 Aug 2010, 18:45 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-128: nog n spies
14 Aug 2010, 18:46 pm
1 minute to go
Province still leading
14 Aug 2010, 18:46 pm
why did JLP just KICK that away?
14 Aug 2010, 18:47 pm
duvenhage can be such a doos…he is slow but he reckons he can dart like will genia
14 Aug 2010, 18:47 pm
Marius Jonker MOM
special mention Vermeulen
30 seconds to go
14 Aug 2010, 18:47 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-137: hahahahahaha
14 Aug 2010, 18:48 pm
Close game. Congrats WP.
14 Aug 2010, 18:48 pm
what a kak game
14 Aug 2010, 18:48 pm
Penalty to Wee Pee
WP WIN
14 Aug 2010, 18:48 pm
@Papoose(papaown)-133:
English
14 Aug 2010, 18:48 pm
@Senga(Senga)-140: what happened to your Altitude?
DOOS
14 Aug 2010, 18:49 pm
boring game…
14 Aug 2010, 18:49 pm
Well done WP. Thought you would win by more.
14 Aug 2010, 18:51 pm
Not very pretty. Both teams had opportunities especially Province in the 1st half- could’ve sewn it up early.
Credit to the Bulls.
But as they say in the classics:
A win is a win
14 Aug 2010, 18:51 pm
@Papoose(papaown)-144: That was a joke. No altitude at sea level. Chill dude.
14 Aug 2010, 18:52 pm
@WOLFMAN21(WOLFMAN21)-146: me too
both teams were missing 8 boks
but i think with each team having the 8 boks back…Bulls would’ve beaten Province today
14 Aug 2010, 18:52 pm
Another poor game by de Waal. Him being man of the match is a joke. He looked so tired in the 2nd half.
Pages: « 1 2 [3] 4 » Show All
Have your say
You must be logged in to post a comment.