Bosch misses late drop-goals in Sharks draw, Lions stay perfect
Curwin Bosch failed with two late drop-goal attempts as the Sharks drew 24-24 with the Waratahs, while the Lions beat the Bulls 49-35 to extend their perfect start to the Super Rugby season.
Fly-half Bosch saw his first attempt from 50 metres drift to the left and his second, which came from a similar distance after the 80th minute, was charged down as the Waratahs held on for a share of the spoils.
Lukhanyo Am crossed twice for the hosts, while Michael Hooper surged away to dot down for the Waratahs after Keegan Daniel lost possession when throwing a quick line-out to himself.
Robert du Preez converted his own score to put the Sharks back ahead with nine minutes remaining, but Bosch was unable to secure their first win of the season after Bernard Foley restored parity by adding the extras to Mitch Short's effort.
Before securing a bonus-point win, the Lions found themselves level with the Bulls at 21-21 when Handre Pollard crossed early in the second half.
Malcolm Marx moved the visitors ahead once more and the Lions surged clear thanks to a penalty try and Sylvian Mahuza's score as the Bulls were reduced to 13 men with Conraad van Vuuren and Nick de Jager shown yellow cards in quick succession.
Ross Cronje got the seventh try for Swys de Bruin's men, meaning Lizo Gqoboka and Travis Ismaiel crossing late was nothing more than a consolation.
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So if this ain’t the best Irish team ever then who exactly is? I don’t remember any other Irish team being this good & winning a series in the Land of the Long White Cloud. Yes I may rip them often for 8 X QF RWC exits & twice not even making it to the QF, but they’re a damn good team who many think can only improve, including me!
Go to commentsNot a squeek out of Leinster for weeks about this match. So quiet. The first team have been quitely building for this encounter under Nienaber’s direction. All fresh, all highly motivated. They are expecting a season’s best performance from Northhampton. They will match that. They will be fresher and apparently they will have 80,000 out of the 83,000 shouting for them. I do expect Northhampton to turn up big time. Not to be missed. On a tangent it is evident how the loss of a few Premiership teams has in some respect helped other Premiership teams and England. More quality over less teams makes the teams better, which has a knock on effect on England. Not the only factor contributing to England’s rise but one of them.
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