The Lions fought back from 16-6 down to beat the Sharks 34-29 at Ellis Park on Saturday, writes SIMON BORCHARDT.

South African Super Rugby derbies can be dour affairs, but this was an absolute cracker played in front of 40,000 fans.

The Sharks could easily have come away with a win, and probably would have, had they not lost a man to the sin bin for 10 minutes, during which time the Lions scored two tries either side of half-time. The visitors did well to put that setback behind them to hit the front again – 26-23 with 15 minutes to go – but a late try from Jaco Kriel gave the hosts the win.

The Lions now have a five-point lead over the Jaguares (who have a game in hand) and the Sharks in the Africa 2 conference.

What a match this was.

The Durban-based franchise raced into a 10-0 lead after only seven minutes, with Curwin Bosch’s penalty followed by a memorable Coenie Oosthuizen try. Kobus van Wyk broke through two tackles, drew the last defender, and found his tighthead prop, who was able to reach over and score, despite being tackled.

Elton Jantjies then missed a drop goal from point-blank range, but the referee was playing advantage and the flyhalf made no mistake with the penalty goal. That, though, was cancelled out by Bosch at the end of the first quarter.

The Sharks were dominating the Lions physically, with Jean-Luc du Preez bouncing off Kriel, and Bosch doing the same to Jantjies soon after. The visitors were also bossing the breakdown, and the hosts looked rattled.

A match-defining passage of play came in the 26th minute. Bosch’s third penalty attempt bounced off the right-hand upright, but Faf de Klerk was brought to ground and the ball turned over. The visitors then sent it wide, with Lwazi Mvovo putting André Esterhuizen over in the left-hand corner. But the try was disallowed when the TMO ruled that Etienne Oosthuizen had cleaned out a player by the neck at the ruck.

Instead of the Sharks going 18-3 or 20-3 ahead, the Lions worked their way back into opposition territory and Jantjies’ penalty reduced the deficit to seven.

Bosch gave his side some reward when he slotted a 42m drop goal, but they were then reduced to 14 men in the 40th minute, when Oosthuizen was yellow-carded for another cleanout around the neck. The Lions kicked for the corner, and Malcolm Marx went over from the lineout driving maul for a converted try that made it 16-13 to the Sharks.

The hosts made their one-man advantage count again early in the second half. De Klerk broke away from a scrum down the blind side and passed to Rohan Janse van Rensburg, who put Skosan over in the left-hand corner. Jantjies nailed the touchline conversion.

Andries Coetzee then put the Lions ahead 23-16 after 52 minutes with a drop goal, but the Sharks hit back with a cracking try. It finished with Inny Radebe, who had just come on to the field, floating a long pass to Jean-Luc du Preez, who put Van Wyk over in the right-hand corner. Bosch’s conversion levelled the scores.

Bosch and Jantjies then exchanged penalties, before the former slotted another from 60m out. Jantjies locked the teams up again at 29-29, with seven minutes to go, with Bosch’s audacious 55m drop goal then bouncing back off the crossbar.

With five minutes to go, Bosch kicked from just outside his tryline to just inside the Lions half. However, the ball failed to find touch, allowing Coetzee to counter-attack. He offloaded in the tackle to Kwagga Smith, who stepped past a defender and drew another, before sending Kriel away for the match-winning try.

Lions – Tries: Malcolm Marx, Courtnall Skosan, Jaco Kriel. Conversions: Elton Jantjies (2). Penalties: Jantjies (4). Drop goal: Andries Coetzee.
Sharks – Tries: Coenie Oosthuizen, Kobus van Wyk. Conversions: Curwin Bosch (2). Penalties: Bosch (4). Drop goal: Bosch.

Lions – 15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Madosh Tambwe, 13 Harold Vorster, 12 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 11 Courtnall Skosan, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Warren Whiteley (c), 7 Ruan Ackermann, 6 Jaco Kriel, 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Andries Ferreira, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Jacques van Rooyen.
Subs: 16 Akker van der Merwe, 17 Corné Fourie, 18 Johannes Jonker, 19 Lourens Erasmus, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Ross Cronjé, 22 Jacques Nel, 23 Dillon Smit.

Sharks – 15 Garth April, 14 Kobus van Wyk, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 André Esterhuizen, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Curwin Bosch, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Daniel du Preez, 7 Jean-Luc du Preez, 6 Tera Mtembu (c), 5 Ruan Botha, 4 Etienne Oosthuizen, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 1 Thomas du Toit.
Subs: 16 Franco Marais, 17 Juan Schoeman, 18 Lourens Adriaanse, 19 Stephan Lewies, 20 Jacques Vermeulen, 21 Michael Claassens, 22 Inny Radebe, 23 Jeremy Ward.

Photo: Anne Laing/HM Images