Chiefs fightback stuns Lions

The Chiefs mounted a sensational late comeback to deny the improved Lions in Super 14 action in Wellington on Saturday.

The New Zealanders entered the final quarter of the match with a 19-point deficit but scored 26 unanswered points to collect the maximum.

The Johannesburg-based Lions led by 22-10 at half-time with centre Jaque Fourie crossing twice, and extended their advantage when Earl Rose scored after the break.

But a four-try burst in the final 20 minutes, with winger Dwayne Sweeney completing a hat-trick, enabled the Chiefs to temporarily move to the top of the Super 14 table.

The Lions took the lead with a brilliant try, when Andre Pretorius - who might be reflecting on the three penalty shots he missed, including a howler in front of the posts in the first-half - showed and went through the 10-12 channel and fed Jano Vermaak inside him for the opener.

Pressure

That preceded a spell of heavy Chiefs pressure, but the Lions fought with vigorous gain-line tackling and forced their hosts into some running that was fancy and skilful but far too flat.

In the end, it did force a penalty as the Lions' defence stretched, with which Stephen Donald reduced the arrears to 7-3, and then a rare lapse in the defence allowed Sweeney to race home under the sticks from 40m.

After Pretorius had missed his shocker, the Lions took the lead. Luis Ludik - his team's outstanding back-line player - turned ball over at a breakdown, the ball was spun wide left and Henno Mentz's grubber kick was chased down for the score by Fourie.

Pretorius, no doubt encouraged by the uncertainties displayed by Sione Lauaki and others under a high ball, rained them down. Under one such kick, Lelia Masaga jumped for a catch and was tackled mid-air by Mentz.

Anger levels rose and at a ruck two minutes later the forwards boiled over. Referee Paul Marks did very well to realise it was a case of getting the tension out of the system and merely spoke to the captains.

Intensity

A minute later Pretorius dropped a goal out of nothing to give his side a 15-10 lead, then the Lions claimed a crucial score on the stroke of half-time, with Lauaki spilling another high ball and the Lions flinging it wide left for Fourie to score.

The Chiefs, still struggling to cope with the energy and intensity of their opponents, suffered a further blow early in the second half when Masaga left the field with what looked like a troublesome knee injury.

But they were working their way into the game well, keeping it tighter than usual, until disaster struck when Earl Rose picked off a Donald pass to steam home from 80m under the posts. 29-10, and a bonus point to boot.

Yet there were signs of cracks in the away side's veneer. Alberts had already been sent to the bin for kicking the ball out of Brendon Leonard's hands and there was a steady stream of free-kicks coming that had Marks warning the team on a couple of occasions.

On the hour mark, Sweeney scored his second after surges by Aled de Malmanche and Liam Messam that saw the Lions defenders fall off tackles.

Five minutes later, Ludik's ill-conceived chip out of defence was countered by Leonard down the left, then the ball was swung crisply right for Jackson Willison to score.

Messam sparked the next, again breaking through tired tackles to within a couple of metres before Hika Elliot stormed home.

Donald converted all three tries and the Chiefs had the lead at 31-29.

They weren't quite done, as Callum Bruce grubbered through and Sweeney chased down à la Fourie in the first half for a 36-29 lead.

Had Donald converted, the Lions would have been robbed of their second bonus point, which would have been harsh. But they had nothing left to offer in the way of fightback, not even when Lauaki spilled another high ball on his own 22.