Queensland Reds back-up kicker Mike Harris slotted six from six to give his team a 30-25 win over South Africa’s Lions on Saturday in their Super Rugby match.
The visitors’ fifth win from six matches consolidates their position at the top of the Australian conference in the southern hemisphere provincial tournament, expanded to 15 teams this year.
Harris, who was only called on to kick after flyhalf Quade Cooper missed his first two efforts, kicked three penalties and three conversions in a faultless performance. Lions kicker Andre Pretorius missed five shots at goal.
Photo: EPA
The home side, winless since breaking a 17-match losing streak three weeks ago, opened up an early 11-0 lead thanks to a try by fullback Michael Killian and two penalties from the recalled Pretorius.
The Australians replied in style on the half hour when left wing Luke Morahan ran a perfect line off a pass from Cooper to dive over at the posts.
Harris kicked the conversion, then added a 35th-minute penalty to reduce the gap to a single point.
Pretorius canceled it out on the stroke of halftime, before replacement back Jaco Taute struck a crucial blow for the Lions within a minute of the restart when he pounced on a mistake by Reds center Digby Ioane to dive over.
However, the Australians replied almost immediately when Cooper ghosted through between two Lions forwards for Harris to convert.
The fullback then added a second penalty with half an hour remaining to put the visitors in front for the first time.
Harris kicked a third goal after 57 minutes to put the Reds in control at 23-19, before Ioane atoned for his previous mistake by barging over with 15 minutes left to all but seal the contest.
Pretorius narrowed the gap to eight with a fourth penalty and reserve scrumhalf Rory Kockott nailed a 55m effort with two minutes left, leaving the Lions cold comfort in yet another close defeat.
STORMERS 16, SHARKS 6
REUTERS, DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA
Returning Stormers skipper Schalk Burger scored the only try as the in-form Stormers beat the Sharks in an all-South African tussle.
It was the sixth straight win for last year’s finalists and they remain the only unbeaten side in the Super Rugby competition.
“It was fantastic,” Burger said. “You never know until you get to the playoffs, but I’m happy with our form at the moment.”
In a match played in unseasonal rain, the Stormers were more composed on defense and made fewer handling errors than their flat-footed hosts, who only returned to South Africa last Monday after losing to the Crusaders in London last weekend.
The Stormers opened the scoring in the fifth minute with the first of three penalties from metronomic flyhalf Peter Grant, who scored 21 points in last week’s win over Australia’s Force.
The Sharks leveled matters in the 12th minute through flyhalf Jacques-Louis Potgieter, deputizing for injured first choice Patrick Lambie, but the Stormers immediately won back the initiative through the talismanic Burger.
From broken play, another veteran Springbok, Jaque Fourie, broke through a weak Sharks defensive wall and from the resultant ruck Burger was on hand to pick up and drive over unopposed.
Grant added the extra points, then kicked a 15th-minute penalty to open up a 10-point lead.
Potgieter made it 13-6 on the stroke of halftime with a second penalty, but the Stormers, playing a conservative game, tightened their grip on the match in a rain-soaked second half that produced only a single penalty by Grant.
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