Saturday 25 April 2015 21:03, UK
The Lions extended their Super Rugby winning streak to five matches, while the Stormers edged past the Bulls.
The Lions extended their Super Rugby winning streak to five matches with a pulsating 34-29 victory over the Cheetahs at Ellis Park.
Warwick Tecklenburg, Ruan Combrinck, Lionel Mapoe and Faf de Klerk all went over for the Lions with Elton Jantjies adding 14 points with the boot.
Cornal Hendricks, Francois Venter, Johann Sadie and Carel Greeff responded for the Cheetahs and Joe Pietersen nailed nine points as both teams claimed a bonus in an entertaining encounter which ebbed and flowed.
Tecklenburg went over after just three minutes after an impressive run from Harold Vorster, with Jantjies adding the extras.
The Lions continued to dominate play but it was the Cheetahs who had the next try when Hendricks ran in from close to halfway and Pietersen's kick levelled the scores.
A Pietersen drop-goal edged the visitors ahead just before the break but Combrinck latched onto a Mapoe offload to go over two minutes after the break and Jantjies' boot made it 14-10.
Just a minute later, the Lions had another. This time Mapoe made the break to touch down and again Jantjies made no mistake.
A Jantjies penalty extended their lead to 14 but the Cheetahs hit back with two quick tries of their own to set up a tense finish.
Some good work from the forwards allowed Venter to go over wide and then Sadie was the beneficiary of some impressive work from Pietersen, who also converted both scores to make it 24-24 with 15 minutes to play.
Another Jantjies penalty edged the Lions ahead and with six minutes to play De Klerk scored the vital try, taking advantage of a strong run and pass inside from Combrinck.
Jantjies' conversion extended the gap to 10 points but Greeff's late try secured two bonus points for the Cheetahs.
Stormers closed out a 15-13 victory to leapfrog the Bulls at the top of the Super Rugby South African Conference at a sold-out Newlands.
It was the Bulls who scored the only try of the match, through Bjorn Basson, but Demetri Catrakilis' place kicking was assured to keep the hosts' noses just in front.
They were 12-3 up at half-time, thanks to four penalties to one - all kicked by Catrakilis.
His opposite number Handre Pollard got one back for the Blues.
Stormers fly-half Catrakilis opened the scoring after an infringement by Dean Greyling and they were soon dominating in open play too, with only a last-ditch tackle by Bulls captain Pierre Spies stopping Duane Vermeulen going over for a try.
The Stormers had to make do instead with another Catrakilis penalty, from right in front of the posts, after Greyling collapsed a scrum.
Catrakilis made it 9-0 after 20 minutes - but after the otherwise impressive prop Frans Malherbe was penalised, Pollard reduced the Bulls' arrears.
Stormers centre Juan de Jongh thought he was in for a try, but a forward pass was spotted in the sweeping move, and instead it fell to Catrakilis to extend the lead again.
The Bulls were right back in it at the start of the second half when Francois Hougaard fed his fellow wing Basson for a counter-attacking try - converted by Pollard.
Catrakilis fleetingly restored a five-point lead with his fifth penalty, awarded for offside, only for Pollard to kick soundly too from a difficult angle to make it 15-13.
The Bulls fly-half missed the chance to kick his team in front just after the hour mark, and in the end the Stormers had enough to hold on for a narrow win.
