Vodacom Super Rugby
Lions fight hard to win
2012-06-02 18:52
Johannesburg - A controversial disallowed late try
cost Sharks two bonus points as they suffered a shock 38-28
Super Rugby defeat by Lions on Saturday.
An assistant told
referee Gareth Williamson he was satisfied that replacement back Louis
Ludik had grounded the ball over the try-line four minutes from time at a
chilly Coca Cola Park.
But the television match official thought
otherwise after a lengthy spell studying replays from various angles and
play-off contenders Sharks returned pointless to Durban.
Had
former Golden Lion Ludik scored, Sharks would have received a bonus
point for scoring four tries and another for losing by less than seven
points in the southern hemisphere provincial championship.
Defeat
after four consecutive victories during May saw Sharks surrender sixth
place (the top six teams on the final standings qualify for the knockout
phase) to New Zealand outfit the Hurricanes.
The teams are
level on 45 points and have won eight matches each, but the Wellington
franchise boast a superior points difference and each team has two
matches to play.
Lions were a revelation in the first half,
playing with determination and skill that belied the fact that they had
lost 11 consecutive matches since beating fellow South Africans the Cheetahs on matchday one last February.
After averaging just 1.5
tries in 12 matches, the Johannesburg franchise scored four before the
break against the rattled Sharks and turned with a 32-11 advantage over a
team they had never beaten in seven previous Super clashes.
A
Sharks side packed with Springboks were a transformed outfit early in
the second half, scoring two converted tries in quick succession to
leave only seven points between the contestants with 35 minutes to go.
But
the black-clad visitors could not maintain the momentum and the rest of
the scoring came from penalties, with Elton Jantjies kicking two for
the Lions and full-back Patrick Lambie one for the Sharks.
Sharks
lock Steven Sykes was sin-binned on 29 minutes for grabbing Lions
eighthman and skipper Joshua Strass around the neck and home outside
centre Lionel Mapoe was punished soon after for not rolling away after a
tackle.
Flanks Grant Hattingh and Derick Minnie, Mapoe and right
wing Deon van Rensburg scored tries for the Lions and Jantjies kicked
three conversions and four penalties.
Left wing Lwazi Mvovo,
outside centre JP Pietersen and right wing Odwa Ndungane crossed the
try-line for the Sharks and Lambie succeeded with two conversions and
three penalties.