Reds steal draw at the death
Sat, 22 Mar 2008 18:49
The Reds stole a 24-all draw at the death in their Super 14 Round Six encounter with the Lions at Ellis Park on Saturday, with a converted Chris Latham try in injury time.
It was a match that deserved far greater support than there was at Ellis Park on a cool Saturday evening of end-to-end rugby. The two teams may be humble ones on the Super 14 table but they produced a match of speed and intensity and a thriller to the end. And everybody played, both fullbacks as involved as any other players.
Hats off to the Lions and the Reds - the Lions in red and the Reds in white.
Even that first half which produced only a niggardly three points was entertaining with thrust and counterthrust. The score was unfair to both sides and the rugby they played. They played it for 40 minutes.
Of course, there were mistakes and the Lions paid heavily for two major lapses that produced 14 points. They had more chances than the Reds to score but finished poorly. The Reds on the other hand - the altitude bogey notwithstanding - finished more strongly than the Lions and Chris Latham's burst at the end was well deserved - the last man with the energy to keep running.
Apart from finishing, the Lions were also at their most fallible when they should have been secure. Score and they let the Reds in. Have the Reds in vulnerable situations and the Reds profited from them as Peter Hynes and Stephen Moore did. Is Eugene Eloff's young team not mature enough to cope with complacency?
The Lions attacked first. They started with a maul, did some clever, intricate things and had Anton van Zyl close and then they did actually score when Clinton Schifcofske was off-side and Jano Vermaak goaled. 3-0 after 4 minutes.
Walter Venter had two telling runs but the finishing was just not there. Still the worst bit of finishing belonged to the Reds. Latham countered off a weak clearing kick and set Morgan Turinui running down the left. He played inside to Quade Cooper who looked certain to score till Venter tackled him and the young flyhalf lost the ball.
Both sides ran and both sides committed handling errors when it mattered. But more and more the Reds were getting into the game. Still the Lions were the ones producing quicker ball.
Ernst Joubert had a run for the line but was pulled back for a miniscule forward pass.
Latham dropped for goal from inside his own half. The ball flew high but wide.
So, after 40 tackles by the Lions and 50 by the Reds, half-time came at 3-0 to the Lions.
After three minutes in the second half the Lions doubled their score when Dayna Edwards collapsed a scrum and Vermaak goaled. 6-0 after 43 minutes which became 6-3 after 44 minutes when the Lions messed up at the kick-off and were penalised at the tackle.
Then the home side found itself well behind. Jaco van Schalkwyk, who did some wonderful and brave things in the match, strolled up to his 22 to kick for touch. He had lots of time and kicked poorly. Cooper passed inside to Hynes in midfield just outside his 22 and Hynes, who did little else all afternoon, ran straight ahead. He ran past groping Heinke van der Merwe and straight down as the red jerseys -parted as the Red Sea had done at the first Passover and he raced away a try that took everybody by surprise, including Hynes. Schifcofske converted. 10-6 to the Reds after 47 minutes. Three points in forty minutes of the first half and 13 points in seven minutes of the second half.
When Latham had three goes at giving the referee advice he was penalised and Vermaak made it 10-9. But again the Lions messed up the kick-off and Van Schalkwyk carried over for a five-metre scrum. But this time the Lions survived.
When Sam Cordingley, who was struggling with a leg injury. knocked on near his 10-metre line the Lions had a scrum on their right. They put Joe van Niekerk in the centre. The ball came, the Lions went left and the Reds had eyes only for Big Joe. Instead Van Schalkwyk snaked through a gap and then he gave the ball to Van Niekerk who raced over for a try which Vermaak converted. 16-10 to the Lions after 56 minutes.
And the Lions scored again. The backs and the forwards combined to weave many phases and the Reds seemed to be cracking as Rayno Benjamin got between Turinui and Roe to score. It was in a favourable position but the Lions led 21-10 and the Reds looked out.
They were not out. Instead Moore stumbled through three tackles and got to the line where Rodney Blake picked up and plunged over for the try. 21-17.
The came a special moment when Van Schalkwyk got the ball far out and dropped for goal. The kick soared high ("I don't know where it came from", he said afterwards) and dropped over the bar. Latham who was four metres away tried to convince the referee it was not over, but the TMO confirmed that it was indeed a goal.
The rest of the game belonged to the Reds as the Lions could simply not clear their lines. The Reds found lots of brave energy and hammered at the Lions' den. Roe burst from a line-out. Schifcofske got round Benjamin and chipped. Greg Holmes got to the line and then they went left and Latham burst past Ethienne Reynecke to score. It was close to the posts and Schifcofske had no difficultly converting. 24-24 and the final whistle went.
It was probably the result both sides deserved.
Man of the Match: Chris Latham was the obvious candidate but he spoilt his King of the Kids performance with unsporting behaviour. Walter Venter, a rookie, had some great moments and so did Quade Cooper, the Artful Dodger. Berrick Barnes and Clinton Schifcofske had great moments and so did Jano Vermaak. Jaco van Schalkwyk was full of energy and zest but he made serious errors and did not have the ability to get his side out of trouble. )Our Man of the Match is a man on the comeback, one of three Springboks in the Lions' side - Joe van Niekerk who scored a try but did much unglamorous work besides.
Moment of the Match: All the tries were special and so was the dropped goal but for the sheer precision of it our choice is Joe van Niekerk's try and what set it up.
Villain of the Match: People generally behaved but Chris Latham's unsporting behaviour, especially at Jaco van Schalkwyk's dropped goal, was unworthy of a great player and unworthy of rugby football.
The scorers:
For the Lions:
Tries: Van Niekerk, Benjamin
Con: Vermaak
Pens: Vermaak 3
DG: Van Schalkwyk
For the Reds:
Tries: Hynes, Blake, Latham
Cons: Schifcofske 3
Pen:
Schifcofske
Teams:
Auto & General Lions: 15 Louis Ludik, 14 Dusty Noble, 13 Jaco Pretorius, 12 Walter Venter, 11 Rayno Benjamin, 10 Jaco van Schalkwyk, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 Joe van Niekerk, 7 Ernst Joubert (captain), 6 Cobus Grobbelaar, 5 Gerhard Mostert, 4 Anton van Zyl, 3 Ross Geldenhuys, 2 Willie Wepener, 1 Heinke van der Merwe.
Replacements: 16 Ethienne Reynecke, 17 JC Janse van Rensburg, 18 Franco van der Merwe, 19 Willem Alberts, 20 Chris Jonck, 21 Rudi Vogt, 22 Jannie Boshoff.
Reds: 15 Chris Latham, 14 Clinton Schifcofske, 13 Morgan Turinui, 12 Berrick Barnes, 11 Peter Hynes, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Sam Cordingley (captain), 8 Leroy Houston, 7 Poutasi Luafutu, 6 John Roe, 5 James Horwill, 4 Van Humphries, 3 Dayna Edwards, 2 Sean Hardman, 1 Greg Holmes.
Replacements: 16 Stephen Moore, 17 Rodney Blake, 18 Ed O'Donoghue, 19 David Croft, 20 Ben Lucas, 21
Brando Va'aulu, 22 Scott Higginbotham.
Referee: Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand)
Touch judges: Chris Pollock (New Zealand), Marius Jonker (South Africa)
TMO: Johan Meuwesen (South Africa)
