The Emirates Lions waited until the final minutes of their United Rugby Championship match to secure a 20-18 win against the Hollywoodbets Sharks in Durban on Saturday, their first win in Durban since 2017.
The hosts dominated the first half spending 77% of the time in the Emirates Lions' half, missing 15 tackles explaning the two tries to nil scored by the Hollywoodbets Sharks. The Hollywoodbets Sharks led 18-03 at the halftime break, however, despite the scoreline and statistics the Emirates Lions were still in the game.
The Emirates Lions started to dominate the final 20 minutes of the match and scored 17 unanswered points to secure a dramatic 20-18 win in the final minutes of the match.
The Hollywoodbets Sharks started like a house on fire, however, it was the visitors who converted a penalty in their first visit to their hosts' 22m to lead 03-00 after just seven minutes of play. Curwin Bosch replied win a converted penalty four minutes later to level the scores.
The score was level after 20 minutes of play with both sides trying to dominate each other, however, the Hollywoodbets Sharks started to attack from within their own half to score a team try with several players handling the ball before Aphelele Fassi sent Makazole Mapimpi away for the first try of the match.
A drop goal by Curwin Bosch extended the Hollywoodbets Sharks lead to 13-03 and was followed by a snipe down the touchline by Grant Williams to score in the corner with six minutes still to play in the first half. The Hollywoodbets Sharks led 18-03 which was also the halftime score.
Following several penalties conceded by the host the referee awarded a penalty try to the Emirates Lions and yellow-carded Gerbrandt Grobler for his efforts. The Hollywoodbets Sharks' lead was reduced to 18-10 with 28 minutes still to play in the second half.
A second converted penalty by Sanele Nohamba made it a five-point game with 20 minutes to play. The Emirates Lions started to take control during the final quarter of the match and with a 5m to go the Emirates Lions took the lead for the second time in the match following a try by Marius Louw scored off the back of a 5m lineout-maul to secure a dramatic 20-18 win.
Scorers:
Hollywoodbets Sharks: Tries: Makazole Mapimpi, Grant Williams. Conversion: Curwin Bosch. Penalty: Curwin Bosch. Drop Goal: Curwin Bosch.
Emirates Lions: Tries: Penalty try, Marius Louw. Conversion: Sanele Nohamba. Penalties: Sanele Nohamba (2).
Teams
Hollywoodbets Sharks: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Werner Kok, 13 Lukhanyo Am (c), 12 Francois Venter, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Curwin Bosch, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Phepsi Buthelezi, 7 Lappies Labuschagne, 6 James Venter, 5 Gerbrandt Grobler, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Hanro Jacobs, 2 Fez Mbatha, 1 Ox Nche. Replacements: 16 Kerron van Vuuren, 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18 Joel Hintz, 19 Corne Rahl, 20 George Cronje, 21 Jaden Hendrikse, 22 Boeta Chamberlain, 23 Rohan Janse van Rensburg.
Emirates Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Richard Kriel, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Marius Louw (c), 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Sanele Nohamba, 9 Morné van den Berg, 8 Francke Horn, 7 Ruan Venter, 6 Emmanuel Tshituka, 5 Darrien Landsberg, 4 Ruben Schoeman, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 PJ Botha, 1 JP Smith. Replacements: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 Morgan Naudé, 18 Ruan Smith, 19 Reinhard Nothnagel, 20 Hanru Sirgel, 21 JC Pretorius, 22 Jordan Hendrikse, 23 Rynhardt Jonker.