The Golden Lions replaced fellow South African side Coastal Sharks as Africa 2 conference leaders by winning 24-9 after a tedious Super Rugby match in Durban on Saturday.
The Johannesburg outfit survived intense early pressure to lead 18-6 at halftime in a match that produced virtually no momentum due to countless reset scrums, penalties and unforced errors.
Australian Angus Gardner was less a referee and more a scrum coach at times as he explained basic rules like binding to both teams. A Sharks front row, including Springboks Tendai “The Beast” Mtawarira and Coenie Oosthuizen, were penalized more often.
Constant stoppages meant the Kings Park stadium crowd in the Indian Ocean city witnessed one of the worst Super Rugby matches there for a long time.
Success for the Lions raised the season total to 18 points, two more than the Sharks after each side had played six matches.
However, even in victory there were team and individual disappointments for the Lions.
Late pressure in an attempt to score a third try and secure a bonus point failed and flyhalf Elton Jantjies finished one point short of 500 in Super Rugby.
Jantjies contributed 14 points from a conversion and four penalties, while missing one shot at goal in perfect kicking conditions.
With 85 points this season, Jantjies is second on the Super Rugby leading scorers chart behind Waikato Chiefs utility back Duncan McKenzie, who has 112. A pushover try from lock Andries Ferreira and another from close range by center Lionel Mapoe completed the Lions total.
Sharks flyhalf Joe Pietersen slotted three penalties for a perfect goal-kicking record on the day.
After keeping the Sharks at bay early on, the Lions took a 14th-minute lead when Ferreira dotted down. Jantjies converted and added two penalties for a 13-point advantage.
The hosts suffered a major blow when Springbok flanker Marcell Coetzee retired with a knee injury. Pietersen trimmed the deficit with his first penalty before Mapoe swiveled to score and Jantjies failed to convert, the only blot on his kicking copybook. Tighthead prop Lourens Adriaanse replaced the struggling Oosthuizen and a second Pietersen penalty left the Sharks 12 points adrift at halftime.
Hopes of a more entertaining second half failed to materialize as the scrum interruptions and penalties continued and only nine points were scored.
BULLS 38, KINGS 6
The Northern Bulls kept the Southern Kings scoreless when reduced to 13 men and ultimately cantered home after a lively Super Rugby match in Port Elizabeth on Saturday.
The Pretoria visitors had lock RG Snyman and tighthead prop Marcel van der Merwe sin-binned for professional fouls during a first half that lasted 48 minutes.
However, although the Port Elizabeth franchise forced three scrums close to the opposition try line, they failed to take advantage of the yellow cards.
Fullback Jurgen Visser did get over the line, only to be held up by winger Travis Ismaiel as the Bulls went into the halftime break ahead 17-6.
Not only did the Bulls not flinch when understaffed, they scored a fourth try through man of the match Jamba Ulengo when still one man short to effectively wrap up a bonus-point victory.
Ulengo and fullback SP Marais scored two tries each and center Jan Serfontein and Snyman one apiece for the three-time Super Rugby champions.
Flyhalf Tian Schoeman atoned for missing his first two conversion attempts by succeeding with three in a row before his replacement, Francois Brummer, also slotted one.
All the enthusiastic, but outplayed, Kings could manage was two penalties from flyhalf Louis Fouche, a former Bull.
Ulengo, deputizing for injured Bjorn Basson, took his try haul to four in four Super Rugby matches as he continued the good form shown in the domestic Currie Cup last year.
The Kings scored first through Fouche, only for the Bulls’ first serious attack to deliver a Serfontein try and Ulengo went over unopposed to build a 10-3 advantage midway through the opening half.
A superb Marais solo run brought a third try for the visitors, which Schoeman converted before Fouche slotted another penalty.
Ulengo, Snyman and Marais dotted down in the second half and all were converted.
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