Lions shut down late Chiefs rally in Super Rugby clash

The Golden Lions went two from two on the boot of Elton Jantjies when they withstood a late Waikato Chiefs rally to win a nail biter in Hamilton on Saturday 36-32.

In the closing two minutes the Chiefs twice won penalties on the Lions line but were unable to convert them into points.

Being four points in arrears they were forced to go for lineout drives but they could not break the well-drilled Lions pack.

The Lions led for most of the game, apart from a brief period at the start of the match and in the middle of the second half as they made light of their arduous travel itinerary.

They are the first team in the expanded competition to head from South Africa to Japan where they beat newcomers the Sunwolves 26-13 last week before travelling south to New Zealand.

"I'm a bit speechless at the moment," elated captain Warren Whitely said when the final whistle blew.

"They put so much pressure on us right until the death and we managed to pull it off in the end."

But while forward power ensured the win, Whiteley said it was the backs who deserved the credit.

"We weren't happy with last week's performance, so we worked really hard on our string to spread it from side to side and I think it worked."

With a superior pack and a lethal 8-9-10 combination of Whiteley, Faf de Klerk and Jantjies, the Lions dominated territory and fly-half Jantjies feasted on penalties as the Lions raced to a 19-11 lead by half-time.

Tom Sanders scored a try for the Chiefs and Malcolm Marx scored for the Lions with Jantjies' three penalties and a conversion making the difference in the first half while the Chiefs' extra points came from two Damian McKenzie penalties.

A Courtnall Skosan try early in the second half put the Lions out to a 24-11 lead before the Chiefs struck back to hit the front 25-24 when quick tries by McKenzie and James Lowe, both converted by McKenzie, produced 14 points in two minutes.

However, it was a short-lived advantage with the Lions adding a further two tries of their own by Whiteley and Ruan Combrinck.

With eight minutes remaining, the Chiefs reduced the deficit to four with a Brad Weber try converted by McKenzie but were unable to get any closer.
SourcE :AFP