Johannesburg - The Lions suffered their seventh consecutive defeat in this year’s Super Rugby season when they went down 34-20 to the Brumbies at Coca-Cola Park on Friday evening.

This does not bode well for the struggling outfit ahead of their tour of Australasia next week, when they will meet the log-leading Chiefs in Hamilton.

The Lions enjoyed most of the ball possession, but ultimately could not convert this advantage into points.

The kick-and-chase strategy employed paid few dividends as there was more kick and less of a chase to put any kind of pressure on the ball receiver.

While the Australian teams have done little to stir any kind of emotion in the Super Rugby season, coach Jake White's Brumbies are looking like the side of old.

The Lions initially looked up to the challenge as they took a few decent stabs at the gain line and even scored the first points of the encounter thanks to a penalty conversion by flyhalf Elton Jantjies in the fifth minute.

However, the Brumbies scored their first of six tries with prop Ruaidhri Murphy crossing the whitewash with flyhalf Christian Lealiifano missing the conversion.

The tourists struggled with their place-kicking and could have enjoyed a greater advantage if they had found the target more often as they missed six shots at goal.

Jantjies slotted over another penalty conversion in the 15th minute to put his side back in the lead for the last time in the match.

The Brumbies then added two more tries to take their half-time score to 17-6.

Matters did not change much for the Lions in the second half as the Brumbies scored two tries within two minutes, with their bonus point try coming four minutes into the half with wing Joe Tamane and prop Benn Alexander scoring a five-pointer each (29-6).

The Lions found some spark when coach John Mitchell sent on four replacements at once.

The Johannesburg side also abandoned the failed kick-and-chase tactic for a more direct approach, which seemed to work.

The Brumbies scored one more time with Henry Speight recording his brace of tries to take their lead to 34-6.

The Lions then finally broke the Brumbies defence as outside centre Jaco Taute scored his side’s first try of the match, with Jantjies converting (34-13).

In the lead up to the try, replacement Butch James was sent off with a yellow card for a shoulder charge into a ruck.

As the match wound down, the Lions scored the final try as prop Caylib Oosthuizen powered his way over the line in the 78th minute, with Jantjies converting to take the final score to 34-20.

Scorers:

Lions:

Tries: Jaco Taute, Caylib Oosthuizen. Conversions: Elton Jantjies (2). Penalties: Jantjies (2)

Brumbies:

Tries: Ruaidhri Murphy, Henry Speight (2), Andrew Smith, Joseph Tomane, Ben Alexander. Conversions: Jesse Mogg, Christian Lealiifano

Yellow card: Butch James (Lions) 63 minutes

Teams:

Lions:
15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Deon van Rensburg, 13 Jaco Taute, 12 Alwyn Hollenbach, 11 Lionel Mapoe, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Tian Meyer, 8 Joshua Strauss (captain), 7 Derick Minnie, 6 Cobus Grobbelaar, 5 Franco van der Merwe, 4 Hendrik Roodt, 3 Patric Cilliers, 2 Callie Visagie, 1 Caylib Oosthuizen

Substitutes: 16 Martin Bezuidenhout, 17 Jacobie Adriaanse, 18 Grant Hattingh, 19 Christo le Roux, 20 Ross Cronje, 21 Butch James, 22 Michael Killian

Brumbies:
15. Jesse Mogg, 14. Henry Speight, 13. Andrew Smith, 12. Pat McCabe, 11. Joseph Tomane, 10. Christian Lealiifano, 9. Nic White, 8. Fotu Auelua, 7. Michael Hooper, 6. Peter Kimlin, 5. Leon Power, 4. Scott Fardy, 3. Ben Alexander, 2. Stephen Moore (captain), 1. Ruaidhri Murphy

Substitutes: 16. Anthony Hegarty, 17. Scott Sio, 18. Sam Carter, 19. Ita Vaea, 20. Ian Prior, 21. Robbie Coleman, 22. Tevita Kuridrani

Referee: Keith Brown (NZL)