Following a dream run at Ellis Park this season, with three victories in four games, the Lions were brought down to earth on Saturday by a charged-up Brumbies outfit which beat the home side 14-9.
The score at halftime was 6-6.
The visitors’ fullback Julian Huxley led their crusade, scoring all 14 points, which included a try, two penalties and a drop goal.
The Lions started off with a bang in the opening minutes of the game, displaying the enterprising rugby which guided them to their best Super 14 campaign in years this season.
But this was short-lived as the Brumbies pushed hard to assert their authority. This resulted in an extremely balanced encounter.
Huxley had the first real say when he slotted a penalty in the fifth minute to open the scoring.
But the Lions hit back three minutes later with a penalty by Springbok flyhalf Andre Pretorius, which levelled the scores.
Huxley increased the visitors’ score to six after slotting over a drop goal in the 10th minute, which Pretorius again cancelled out 10 minutes later.
The Lions then received a golden opportunity to score in the 30th minute, but wing Louis Ludik was stopped dead by an airborne Huxley.
The home team, however, complicated matters for themselves in the first half, as their performance was riddled with knock-on’s.
They then turned up their intensity in the second half and immediately attacked the Brumbies’ line. But to no avail. Huxley slotted over his second penalty seven minutes into the second half, giving the visitors’ a 9-6 lead. But Pretorius retaliated with one of his own minutes later after Brumbies’ prop Guy Shepherdson was penalised for illegal scrimmaging. This levelled the scores at 9-9.
Thereafter, it was a case of gloves off for the Lions, who ran everything they had at the visitors, which almost resulted in two tries. In the first instance, Springbok back Jaco Pretorius lost the ball forward as he was charging to the tryline and minutes later replacement scrumhalf Jano Vermaak was denied a try because two of his teammates had obstructed the Brumbies defenders.
The roles were reversed in the last 10 minutes, as the Brumbies managed to get on the front foot and control proceedings. Their patience and desperation resulted in a well-worked try for Huxley, which gave the visitors a handy 14-9 lead.
Unfortunately for the Lions, a knock-on shattered their dreams of staging a last-gasp victory two minutes before the final whistle. – Sapa