Three opportunistic tries by the Lions in the dying minutes of the match against England’s Saracens handed the Currie Cup side a convincing 43-27 victory.
Lions substitute hooker Schalk Brits began the Lions’ comeback in the 29th minute of the second half after the Ellis Park outfit had found themselves trailing 27-22 with less than 15 minutes to play.
Brits’s try came from a turnover in the midfield, and so did the Lions’ last two tries from captain Wikus van Heerden, who scampered 22m to score his try and from fullback Conrad Jantjies who scored from an interception.
The Lions turned around a jittery first-half performance after they had made some meaningful substitutions, with Brits replacing Lukas van Biljon in the engine room and Doppies la Grange replacing an out-of-sorts Nel Fourie.
Saracens had threatened to run away with the match early in the first half by scoring two blistering tries from fullback Robbie Kydd and captain Hugh Vyvyan.
The Lions hit back through tries by Pietman van Niekerk and Roland Reid to go into a narrow half-time lead of 14-13.
The match was a confidence-boosting win for the Lions in their Currie Cup campaign and a much-needed season warmer for Saracens. — Sapa