The Lions came out firing at Ellis Park against the Blues as they destroyed the visitors in the scrums and showed fantastic innovation on attack. This was supported by another fine performance by flyhalf Marnitz Boshoff, who contributed a total of 24 points with the boot, which included three conversions, two drop goals and four penalties.
Despite the strong start the Lions earned their first points of the match only in the 33rd minute as the Blues were reduced to 14 men following a professional foul by Charlie Faumuina. Scrumhalf Faf de Klerk crossed the tryline first and this was followed by a Marnitz Boshoff drop-goal and a Courtnall Skosan try to hand the hosts an encouraging 17-0 half-time lead.
Boshoff wasted no time adding to their score in the second half with another drop goal, while the Blues woes continued with lock Tom Donnelly receiving a yellow card for dangerous entry at a ruck.
With the chips down and the pressure rising, the Blues soon found their rhythm as they stepped up their performances in the scrums and started running with the ball. The reward for this was five second-half tries and a shot at winning the match.
Three second-half penalties by Boshoff and a lucky try by Coenie van Wyk, however, proved to be enough to shut out the Blues and earn the Lions their third victory in five outings.
The victory for the Lions was their first against the Blues since the decision to discard the Cats name at the end of the 2006 season, and it marked their third win against the Blues since the inception of the Super 12 in 1996.
The team’s only victories against the Blues were in 2001 and 2000 in which they won 26-23 and 34-27 respectively, when they still fell under the Cats banner with the Free State players.
Boshoff’s contribution with the boot allowed him to extend his lead on the top point-scorer’s list to 40 over his Toyota Cheetahs counterpart Johan Goosen.
Scorers:
- Lions – Tries: Courtnall Skosan, Francois de Klerk, Coenie Van Wyk. Conversions: Marnitz Boshoff (3).Drop Goals: Boshoff (2). Penalties: Boshoff (4).
- Blues – Tries: Charles Piutau, Bryn Hall, Frank Halai, George Moala, Benji Marshall. Conversion: Chris Noakes (2). Penalty: Chris Noakes
All Results – Round 5:
- Rebels 19 -25 Crusaders (Melbourne)
- Highlanders 29 – 31 Force (Dunedin)
- Brumbies 28 -23 Waratahs (Canberra)
- Cell C Sharks 35 – 20 Reds (Durban)
- Lions 39 – 36 Blues (Johannesburg)
- Hurricanes 60 – 27 Toyota Cheetahs (Wellington)
- Chiefs 36 – 20 DHL Stormers (Hamilton)
Combined Log – after Round 5:
- Cell C Sharks – 18
- Chiefs – 13
- Brumbies – 13
- Lions – 12
- Waratahs – 11
- Vodacom Bulls – 10
- Force – 10
- Reds – 9
- Crusaders – 8
- Highlanders – 7
- Blues – 7
- Hurricanes – 6
- Rebels – 6
- DHL Stormers – 5
- Toyota Cheetahs – 5
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