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Resurgent Lions maul Queensland Reds Down Under

Captain Ernst Joubert scored a try five-minutes from full-time to lift South Africa's resurgent Lions to a 26-20 win over the Queensland Reds in a Super 14 rugby match yesterday.

Joubert stormed through the Reds defense to score near the posts, leaving an matter-of-fact conversion for Earl Rose who landed six goals from six attempts, and lifting the Lions to their fourth straight win and second place on the championship table.

The luckless Reds seemed to have the match in the bag when they opened a 17-6 lead in the first half. They were still ahead 17-12 at half-time and, in a match of five lead changes, they led 20-19 with five minutes to play before a thrilling raid by the Lions, capped by Joubert's try, stole the match.

"Four wins in a row ... we've got a bit of a sequence going," Joubert said. "It's a pity we're leaving it to the last 10 minutes but the boys showed a lot of character again tonight and I'm very proud of them."

Earlier, teenage halves Quade Cooper and Will Genia seemed to have helped Queensland rediscover their running game, scoring tries in the 20th and 26th minute to promote them to their peak lead of 11 points.

Genia, 19, Cooper, 18 and Berrick Barnes, formed an incisive inside back combination which brought some of the missing thrill back to Queensland rugby but it was eventually the grit and experience of the Lions, particularly flyhalf Andre Pretorious, that decided the match.

Pretorious rolled a perfectly-weighted chip kick into the Reds ingoal area in the 55th minute for center Jacque Fourie to score and he had a crucial hand in the wide-ranging movement which led to Joubert's try.

The Reds had played with enterprise throughout the first half, inspired by Cooper and by Genia, who added penetration when he took the field at scrumhalf.

Quade sprinted onto a loose pass in the 20th minute to saw through the Lions defense and give Queensland a 10-6 lead. Genia made it 17-6 when, handling twice in a tryscoring movement, he burst the defense on a low, strong run to the line.

Clinton Schifcofske kicked two conversions and two penalties for the Reds on a night on which the goalkickers landed 10 goals from 10 attempts, and his last in the 61st minute seemed to have decided the match. He gave the Reds a 20-19 lead but Joubert had the final say.

"We just have to go back to the drawing board," said Reds captain John Roe. "I thought we were playing well enough but we gave the Lions a sniff and they took it."
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