Murphy Taramai scored an 80th-minute try to hand the Blues a thrilling 38-35 comeback win over the Lions at Ellis Park on Saturday evening. CRAIG LEWIS reports.
Heading into this clash, the word out of the Lions’ camp was that they felt this would be their greatest test of the season, and so it proved as the Blues’ willingness to throw the ball around left them looking thoroughly rattled.
The Lions had opened up an 18-point advantage deep into the contest in the 55th minute, but they kept allowing the Blues back in, and in the final stages, Taramai burst over to score the match-winning try.
This result will serve as a major wake-up call for the Lions, who were never at their clinical best, and failed to display the necessary appreciation for ball retention, while they surprisingly battled at scrum time.
The Lions had enjoyed the perfect start to proceedings as they raced out to a 14-0 lead within as many minutes as Sylvian Mahuza and Rohan Janse van Rensburg went over for early tries.
Both scores effectively originated as a result of errors from Sonny Bill Williams, who twice failed to hang on to possession, and from turnover balls the Lions have always proven to be lethal.
Despite the positive start for the Lions, they suffered a significant blow when captain Warren Whiteley was forced from the field midway through the opening half with what looked to be a problematic knee injury that could be a real cause for concern going forward.
Just before the break, though, the Lions looked to have struck a key blow when Elton Jantjies barged over to score from close range, but a loose bit of play then enabled Blues No 8 Akira Ioane to dot down under the posts with the final play of the half.
That ensured the deficit was quickly cut back to 11 points at the interval, and it was revealed that, at half-time, coach Swys de Bruin said he was far from satisfied with the effort from the Lions, whom he suggested were failing to shown an appreciation for possession.
The Lions continued to come under immense pressure early in the second half, but they were let off the hook with two missed penalties from Blues flyhalf Bryn Gatland.
Crucially, the home side then scored completely against the run of play as Aphiwe Dyantyi latched on to a loose pass and darted away to score the Lions’ fourth try, which opened up a handy 18-point buffer.
That looked like it could be game, set and match, but the Blues came roaring back with two quickfire tries to Rieko Ioane that suddenly cut the deficit to just four points heading into the final 10 minutes.
The Lions responded with what looked like it could be a match-winning five-pointer to Dylan Smith, but the Blues hit straight back through a brilliant try finished off by Jimmy Tupou, before Taramai delivered the final killer blow.
Lions – Tries: Sylvian Mahuza, Rohan Janse van Rensburg, Elton Jantjies, Aphiwe Dyantyi, Dylan Smith. Conversions: Elton Jantjies (5).
Blues – Tries: Akira Ioane, Rieko Ioane (2), Jimmy Tupou, Murphy Taramai. Penalty: Bryn Gatland. Conversions: Gatland, Stephen Perofeta (3).
Lions – 15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Sylvian Mahuza, 13 Lionel Mapoe, 12 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 11 Aphiwe Dyantyi, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Ross Cronjé, 8 Warren Whiteley (c), 7 Franco Mostert, 6 Cyle Brink, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Andries Ferreira, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Jacques van Rooyen.
Subs: 16 Robbie Coetzee, 17 Dylan Smith, 18 Jacobie Adriaanse, 19 Lourens Erasmus, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Ashlon Davids, 22 Harold Vorster, 23 Hacjivah Dayimani.
Blues – 15 Michael Collins, 14 Matt Duffie, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 Sonny Bill Williams, 11 Melani Nanai, 10 Bryn Gatland, 9 Sam Nock, 8 Akira Ioane, 7 Antonio Kiri Kiri, 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Gerard Cowley-Tuioti, 4 Patrick Tuipulotu, 3 Ofa Tuungafasi, 2 James Parsons (c), 1 Alex Hodgman.
Subs: 16 Ross Wright, 17 Pauliasi Manu, 18 Michael Tamoaieta, 19 Scott Scrafton, 20 Jimmy Tupou, 21 Murphy Taramai, 22 Jonathan Ruru, 23 Stephen Perofeta.
Photo: Gordon Arons/Gallo Images
