The Cell C Sharks secured a vital away victory to boost their chances of a play-off place in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship as they defeated the Emirates Lions 29-7 at Emirates Airline Park in Johannesburg on Saturday.
The first half was a tight affair as both teams threw a lot at one another but were only able to come away with a try apiece for their efforts to see them enter the break tied at 07-07.
The Cell C Sharks broke away in the second half making the most of their opportunities, and they earned three tries for their efforts to secure the vital bonus-point win, while they left the hosts scoreless in the second stanza.
The KwaZulu-Natalians continued to make the most of their opportunities as the match closed out with Springbok scrumhalf Grant Williams dotting down from a great chip kick in the 73rd minute to close out the match and secure the bonus point.
Neither team were able to score in the dying minutes and this allowed the Cell C Sharks to walk away with a vital 29-7 victory.
Scorers:
Emirates Lions: Try: Marius Louw. Conversion: Gianni Lombard.
Cell C Sharks: Tries: Curwin Bosch, Thaakir Abrahams, Fez Mbatha, Grant Wiliams. Conversions: Curwin Bosch (3). Penalty: Curwin Bosch
As it happened:
26:49 Curwin Bosch cut through the defence in between two forwards to score a brilliant try for the Cell C Sharks. (00-07)
31:12 Emmanuel Tshituka (Emirates Lions) was sent off with a yellow card.
33:18 Marius Louw run a great line to cut through the defence of the Cell C Sharks to score the equaliser. (07-07)
48:31 Thaakir Abrahams scored in the corner after a "failed" 5m lineout-maul resulted in a flat pass to Abrahams. (07-14)
58:19 Curwin Bosch converted a penalty for the Cell C Sharks. (07-17)
67:35 Fez Mbatha scored from the back of a 5m lineout-maul. (07-22)
73:07 Grant Williams falls on a brilliant grubber from Curwin Bosch to score the Cell C Sharks' bonus point try. (07-29)
Teams:
Emirates Lions: 15. Quan Horn, 14. Rabs Maxwane, 13. Manuel Rass, 12. Marius Louw (c), 11. Edwill van der Merwe, 10. Gianni Lombard, 9. Morne van den Berg, 8. Emmanuel Tshituka, 7. Ruan Venter, 6. Jaco Kriel, 5. Ruben Schoeman, 4. Willem Alberts, 3. Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2. PJ Botha, 1. JP Smith. Replacements: 16. Michael van Vuuren, 17. Morgan Naude, 18. Ruan Dreyer, 19. Ruhan Delport, 20. Sibusiso Sangweni, 21. Ruhan Straeuli, 22. Sanele Nohamba, 23. Rynhardt Jonker.
Cell C Sharks: 15. Aphelele Fassi, 14. Werner Kok, 13. Francois Venter, 12. Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 11. Thaakir Abrahams, 10. Curwin Bosch, 9. Grant Williams, 8. Phepsi Buthelezi (c), 7. Henco Venter, 6. James Venter, 5. Gerbrandt Grobler, 4. Reniel Hugo, 3. Carlu Sadie, 2. Dan Jooste, 1. Ntuthuko Mchunu. Replacements: 16. Fez Mbatha, 17. Dian Bleuler, 18. Hanro Jacobs, 19. Vincent Tshituka, 20. Dylan Richardson, 21. Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 22. Cameron Wright, 23. Ben Tapuai.
