The Golden Lions secured a hard-fought win of 15-10 over a gallant Boland Cavaliers side in a mud bath in Wellington after leading 7-3 at half-time.
With playing conditions almost impossible and several spots on the field ankle deep with water, both sides made several handling errors that led to scrum after scrum.
And the underfoot conditions ruled out any possibility of exciting running rugby.
Louis Ludik was, however, safe under the high and wet ball and a tower of strength for the visitors.
For the home side John Daniels played his heart out on the right wing, while seasoned fullback Antonius Verhoeven made an impressive debut as inside centre.
But it was a match Boland could have won if it was not for losing so much possession in contact situations.
Up front nobody played harder for the Lions than strong-running number eight Willem Alberts. He was well supported by captain Ernst Joubert and flanker Cobus Grobbelaar.
For Boland their loose trio of Francois Prinsloo, Henley du Plessis and Zolani Mofu were outstanding at times, while loosehead prop Janro van Niekerk once again showed his ability with a powerhouse performance against Lawrence Sephaka.
The Lions opened the scoring in the 30th minute when centre Jaco Pretorius crossed the line after Boland fullback Justin Peach could not gather a kick ahead by Louis Strydom. Strydom converted.
Boland’s first points came in the 38th minute via an Isma-eel Dollie penalty.
In the first minute after half-time Peach made up for his blunder earlier on when he scored a good try. Dollie succeeded with the conversion.
In the 25th minute the Lions regained the lead when right wing Ryno Benjamin seemed to be unmarked when he raced over after a clever cross-kick by Strydom.
The Lions put the issue beyond doubt when Strydom succeeded with a penalty right under the post in the very last second. — Sapa