Ken Borland

Marnitz Boshoff - 22 points including two drop goals

The Lions enjoyed 22 points from the boot of flyhalf Marnitz Boshoff as they beat the Bulls 32-21 (half-time 9-6) in their SuperRugby match at Ellis Park on Saturday and all but eliminated them from playoffs contention.

Boshoff kicked two conversions and four penalties in a faultless goal-kicking display and also added two impressive drop goals.

The Lions, playing with tremendous energy considering they have just flown back from Australia, produced some top-class counter-attacking rugby as they capitalised on a host of Bulls mistakes.

They also scrambled superbly in defence and a Bulls side missing the composure brought by the rested Victor Matfield looked rattled throughout the game.

The Lions showed their character from the outset as they recovered the ball from a lost lineout in the second minute and Boshoff claimed his first drop goal (3-0).

While the Lions struggled in the lineouts, they gave the Bulls a working over in the scrums and the visitors were penalised in that set-piece in the fifth minute, allowing Boshoff to slot a penalty (6-0).

Bulls flyhalf Jacques-Louis Potgieter missed a penalty in the seventh minute and was then penalised for not releasing in the tackle, Boshoff stretching the Lions’ lead to 9-0.

The Bulls fought their way back into the match, however, their big ball-runners making inroads, and two Potgieter penalties narrowed the gap to 6-9 at the break.

The Bulls replaced loosehead prop Dean Greyling in the first scrum of the second half, bringing on Morne Mellet, and immediately won a penalty, allowing Potgieter to level the scores in the 45^th minute.

But the Lions regained their inspiration straight afterwards as Bulls lock Grant Hattingh failed to claim the kickoff in a key moment. The ball bounced into eighthman Warren Whiteley’s hands and the Lions captain quickly fed centre Alwyn Hollenbach, who went blind before jinking inside to score a fine try.

Boshoff added the conversion (16-9) and the Lions continued to separate themselves from their error-strewn opponents as the deadeye flyhalf kicked another drop goal and a penalty before flank Warwick Tecklenburg scored a try after a thrilling break by replacement Elton Jantjies. He sent Stokkies Hanekom, who had a dream game, haring towards the line with a brilliant flip inside, but the  outside centre was stopped just short of the line before popping the ball up for Tecklenburg to score.

There was some cheer for the flat Bulls as replacement centre William Small-Smith and flank Jacques du Plessis scored late tries, but Boshoff provided the fairytale ending for the Lions with an 80^th-minute penalty after a scrum infringement.

While the Lions have climbed off the bottom of the log with the victory, the Bulls are now in ninth place with 33 points and locked in a dire struggle with the Highlanders (38), Hurricanes (37), Western Force (36) and Chiefs (35) for a place in the top six and progression to the playoffs.

Scorers

Lions – Tries: Alwyn Hollenbach, Warwick Tecklenburg. Conversions: Marnitz Boshoff (2). Penalties: Boshoff (4). Drop goals: Boshoff (2).

Bulls – Tries: William Small-Smith, Jacques du Plessis. Conversion: Jacques-Louis Potgieter. Penalties: Potgieter (3).

Lions coach Johan Ackermann has freshened up his team with nine changes to the starting line-up for their Lions Challenge match against the Cheetahs at Ellis Park on Saturday.

The Cheetahs are bringing an injury-hit squad featuring fringe players to Johannesburg and Ackermann will also be fielding several new faces for the Lions’ second game of the season, following their 51-13 victory over Russia last weekend.

But centre Alwyn Hollenbach, who has been mentioned for higher honours, has returned from injury and will provide captain JC Janse van Rensburg with experienced support alongside loose forward Derick Minnie.

Swys du Toit has also been introduced at hooker, with Martin Bezuidenhout, the subject of loan speculation in Cape Town, out of the squad. While the Lions did confirm they are in negotiations with the Stormers over lending the front-ranker to them, Ackermann said the Orkney-born 23-year-old would have been rested this weekend anyway.

“We received a call requesting we loan Martin to the Stormers from February to the end of March and we are busy finalising the details. We should know for sure on Monday,” Lions CEO Manie Booysen said on Friday.

Janse van Rensburg said he expected a tough encounter with the Cheetahs.

“There’s always extra competition against the South African teams, it will be like a derby, hard and tough. The Cheetahs are in the same boat as us, their tight five will also be out to prove themselves, so it will be  as tough as always up front,” he said.

Coach Ackermann has brought Du Toit, two new locks – former Northern Free Stater Gavin Annandale and Hugo Kloppers – and flank Jaco Kriel into the pack, while the Cronje twins, Ross and Guy, will direct affairs from halfback.

Amongst the backs, former Blue Bulls flyhalf Marnitz Boshoff is included at fullback and Ackermann confirmed the 24-year-old is being looked at as a challenger to Andries Coetzee in the number 15 jersey.

“Marnitz played a lot of rugby at fullback for the Blue Bulls U20 side and we want to see how he goes at 15, he is challenging Andries Coetzee. Marnitz can cover flyhalf as well, while Ruhan Nel can also play fullback and Lionel Cronje covers inside centre too,” Ackermann said.

Hollenbach at inside centre and Nel on the right wing are the other changes to the backline and Ackermann said Hollenbach, the former SA U19 star, was eager to get back on to the field after a shoulder injury.

“Alwyn is eager to play, I asked him if he was sure he was 100% ready and he said it’s time to get back on the park, he didn’t want to wait another week,” Ackermann said.

Team: Marnitz Boshoff, Ruhan Nel, Stokkies Hanekom, Alwyn Hollenbach, Anthony Volmink, Guy Cronje, Ross Cronje, Willie Britz, Derick Minnie, Jaco Kriel, Hugo Kloppers, Gavin Annandale, Ruan Dreyer, Swys du Toit, JC Janse van Rensburg. Substitutes – Robbie Coetzee, Jacques van Rooyen, JJ Breet, Claude Tshibidi, Michael Bondesio, Lionel Cronje, Andries Coetzee.

Five players will make their representative debuts for the Lions at the weekend when the relegated Super Rugby franchise take on Russia at Ellis Park in the inaugural game of the Lions Challenge.

Lions coach Johan Ackermann has thrown flyhalf Lionel Cronje, centres Harold Vorster and Stokkies Hanekom, flank Warwick Tecklenburg, and lock Franco Mostert straight into the fray as the Lions begin a new era on Saturday night.

They have, however, also chosen their strongest available combination –barring the injured Jaco Kriel, Alwyn Hollenbach, Ruan Combrinck and Deon van Rensburg, — endorsing the feeling that the Johannesburg-based franchise are eager to begin their new era with winning momentum.

“Every game will be important for us, but it’s especially important that we start this tournament well. I’m happy with the mix of players I’ve got, we have the opportunity now to try a few players but there will be a time closer to the end of the competition when I’ll have to settle on number one and number two in every position,” Ackermann said at the team announcement on Thursday.

“We want to fine-tune our game, get some conditioning and continuity going, especially getting the new players to gel, and it will be our first real contact because we haven’t had a lot up till now. We want to get our style of play going too, but really I just want to win and get the guys out on the pitch.”

Russia are the first of three international teams that the Lions will be playing, but they know little about their opening opposition, save for the likelihood that their strength will be concentrated in their pack.

“They traditionally like to keep the ball in front of their forwards.

But we enjoy it when teams come here to scrum because we enjoy that too!” Lions captain and loosehead prop JC Janse van Rensburg said.

Ackermann said he had been impressed with the quality of Russia’s play earlier this week in a game against the University of Johannesburg and, despite recent losses to the USA and Canada, he did not believe the Bears would be pushovers.

The Lions have been bolstered by the arrival of players with SuperRugby experience such as Cronje and Tecklenburg. The talented youngsters have both turned their backs on the Bulls, along with promising lock Mostert.

SA U20 cap Vorster and former South-Western Districts centre Hanekom have been paired together and, being big, tall and fast, should provide go-forward for the Lions in midfield.

Team: 15-Andries Coetzee, 14-Deon Helberg, 13-Stokkies Hanekom, 12-Harold Vorster, 11-Anthony Volmink, 10-Lionel Cronje, 9-Michael Bondesio, 8-Willie Britz, 7-Derick Minnie, 6-Warwick Tecklenburg, 5-Franco Mostert, 4-Hendrik Roodt, 3-Ruan Dreyer, 2-Martin Bezuidenhout, 1-JC Janse van Rensburg. Substitutes – 16-Francois du Toit, 17-Jacques van Rooyen, 18-Jacques Kotze, 19-Hugo Kloppers, 20-Claude Tshibidi, 21-Ross Cronje, 22-Marnitz Boshoff, 23-Ruhan Nel.

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The Lions claimed just their third victory of the season as flyhalf Elton Jantjies succeeded with all seven of his kicks at goal to give them a 37-32 victory over the Melbourne Rebels in their SuperRugby match at Ellis Park on Saturday.

The Lions had to overcome a fantastic comeback by the Rebels, who scored three second-half tries to turn a 7-24 half-time deficit into a 32-27 lead.

But replacement flank Jaco Kriel then charged down the blindside to score an equalising try, which Jantjies converted from the touchline to give the Lions the lead, the young flyhalf then kicking a penalty on the final hooter to stretch the winning margin to five points.

The Lions, who have an interim coaching staff due to the suspension of former All Black mentor John Mitchell, played with enormous confidence and freedom in the first half as they ran in three tries and Jantjies kicked a penalty to give them a 24-0 lead after 36 minutes.

“We had a disappointing first 15/20 minutes, making simple, fundamental errors in good field positions, that gave the Lions lots of possession and, to their credit, they turned that into points,” Rebels coach Damian Hill told a news conference after the game.

The home side made a great start when right wing Lionel Mapoe stepped inside and sent outside centre Waylon Murray over for the opening try after just two minutes.

Nine minutes later, Mapoe and Murray again combined well down the right, the Lions then quickly swinging the ball to the left, where outstanding flanker Derick Minnie barged his way over the tryline.

The Rebels tried to stretch the Lions with clever attacking play, but they struggled to get on the front foot against an aggressive defence, and the Lions also ruled the breakdowns in the first half. The Australians went off their feet at a ruck in the 25th minute, allowing Jantjies to kick a penalty (17-0), and Minnie then read the situation perfectly as he burst from a rolling maul through a big gap in the defence to score his second try.

The Rebels finally had some points on the board on the half-time hooter as they protected the ball well in a rolling maul, hooker Ged Robinson emerging with the try, which was converted by fullback Julian Huxley.

Having dominated the opening 40 minutes, it was a case of losing focus in the second half for the Lions, who also lost their discipline at the breakdown and conceded a string of penalties to give the Rebels momentum and territory.

“There was a lack of concentration in the second half, especially defensively, with guys not manning up in the one-on-one tackles,” Lions captain Josh Strauss said. “If we can keep concentrating for 80 minutes and play like we did in the first 40 minutes, then we’ll be a very dangerous side. We’re still playing for pride and each other.”

Lock Hugh Pyle scored two tries in three minutes for the Rebels, crossing over in the 47th and 50th minutes.

His first try came after the visitors kept the ball in the forwards, tighthead prop Jono Owen also carrying strongly, while his second came after wing Mark Gerrard had sped back into the Lions’ half from the kick-off, scrumhalf Nick Phipps was up in support and Pyle was able to take advantage of a big overlap on the right.

Huxley converted Pyle’s first try and then brought the Rebels to within two points in the 58th minute as he kicked a penalty after the Lions failed to roll away in the ruck.

Jantjies replied with a penalty which stretched the Lions lead to 27-22, but then became the villain of the piece as his clearance kick was charged down by flyhalf Jimmy Hilgendorf to give the Rebels an equalising try which was confirmed by Television Match Official Johann Meuwesen.

Huxley converted to give the Rebels a 29-27 lead, before adding a penalty which stretched the lead to 32-27.

“There’s a good spirit and camaraderie in the group and we’ve consistently shown that when we’re down, we find a way back. But too often we let ourselves down first and we need to find a way to be better as a team, to be able to put pressure on the opposition from the start,” experienced Rebels captain Stirling Mortlock said.

But Lions scrumhalf Michael Bondesio then caught the Rebels defence napping with a pop-pass down the blindside to Kriel, who powered through the cover defence to score in the corner.

The 21-year-old Jantjies kept his calm to kick the conversion and give the crowd a happy ending to the Lions’ last home game of the season, and perhaps their last in SuperRugby as they are slated for relegation next year to make room for the Southern Kings.

Scorers

Lions – Tries: Waylon Murray, Derick Minnie (2), Jaco Kriel. Conversions: Elton Jantjies (4). Penalties: Jantjies (3).

Melbourne Rebels – Tries: Ged Robinson, Hugh Pyle (2), Jimmy Hilgendorf. Conversions: Julian Huxley (3). Penalties: Huxley (2).