Johannesburg - The Lions have avoided one of the greatest upsets in Super Rugby history by overturning a 31-26 deficit in the final quarter to beat the Sunwolves 40-38 in Johannesburg on Saturday.
AS IT HAPPENED: Lions 40-38 Sunwolves
The Lions, who led 19-17 at half-time, never looked in control of the game and it reflected on the scoreboard throughout.
The minimum requirement would have been to secure a bonus point, but Swys de Bruin's men couldn't even manage that as they scored a total of six tries to five from their visitors.
Guilty of looking to run the ball from everywhere in the first half, the Lions were met by a Sunwolves side that has shown visible signs of improvement this season.
When Kazuki Himeno scored for the visitors on the hour mark, the Sunwolves had a five-point lead and the unthinkable suddenly looked very possible.
In the end, though, there was too much quality on offer from the Lions and they managed to get the job done, albeit in unconvincing fashion.
The win sees the Lions recover from their shock loss at home to the Blues last weekend while they solidify their position on top of the South African Conference.
In next weekend's action, the Lions travel to Argentina for a date against the Jaguares.
More to follow ...
Scorers:
Lions 40 (19)
Tries: Andries Coetzee, Marvin Orie, Malcolm Marx, Aphiwe Dyantyi, Malcolm Marx, Rohan Janse van Rensburg
Conversions: Elton Jantjies (5)
Sunwolves 38 (17)
Tries: Kotaro Matsushima, Craig Millar, Hosea Saumaki, Kazuki Himeno, Atsushi Sakate
Conversions: Will Tupou (3), Ryoto Nakamura (2)
Penalty: Tupou
Lions
15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 13 Lionel Mapoe, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Aphiwe Dyantyi, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Ross Cronje, 8 Len Massyn, 7 Franco Mostert (captain), 6 Kwagga Smith, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Lourens Erasmus, 3 Jacobie Adriaanse, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Dylan Smith
Substitutes: 16 Robbie Coetzee, 17 Sti Sithole, 18 Johannes Jonker, 19 Robert Kruger, 20 Marnus Schoeman, 21 Marco Jansen van Vuren, 22 Howard Mnisi, 23 Shaun Reynolds
Sunwolves
15 Kotaro Matsushima, 14 Lomano Lemeki, 13 William Tupou, 12 Michael Little, 11 Hosea Saumaki, 10 Harumichi Tatekawa, 9 Yutaka Nagare, 8 Michael Leitch, 7 Lappies Labuschagne, 6 Yoshitaka Tokunaga, 5 Wimpie van der Walt, 4 Kazuki Himeno, 3 Koo Ji-won, 2 Yusuke Niwai, 1 Craig Millar
Substitutes: 16 Atsushi Sakate, 17 Shintaro Ishihara, 18 Hencus van Wyk, 19 Grant Hattingh, 20 Willie Britz, 21 Keisuke Uchida, 22 Ryoto Nakamura, 23 Ryuji Noguchi
