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Mon 31 Jul 2017 | 11:11
Incredible Lions comeback to beat Hurricanes and reach Super Rugby final

12
Comments

The Lions came back from 22-3 down to beat the 2016 champions 49-29 at Ellis Park on Saturday. Momentum shifted to the homeside, and then a yellow card to Beauden Barrett proved costly for the visitors. The Lions will face the Crusaders in the final in Johannesburg next weekend.

Posted By: Grant Constable

12 Comments

  • katman
    3:27 PM 04/08/2017

    The Lions played Kiwi opposition eight times in 2016 - five games in the conference stages as well as all three their knockout games. They won four of those eight games, including away against the Chiefs and at home against the Blues, Crusaders and Highlanders.

    They ended the conference stage second on the combined log, just one point behind the Hurricanes. The idea that this Lions team is only good against non-Kiwi sides is laughable.

  • foxtrot
    1:35 PM 04/08/2017

    Well, last year they did play in the NZ conference and were lying first on the log right up until the very last league game against the Jaguars which they sacrificed by playing their second stringers and so gave up the home final to the Hurricanes.

  • rdump0
    10:43 AM 03/08/2017

    Well, one would surely give more credit to the Crusaders being 14-1 having to play half their games against all other NZ teams, rather than 14-1 not having to play a single game against them...

    The NZ conference ranked their teams 2,3,4,5 and 8th overall (in points) having to play 50% of their games against each other ! NZ teams lost merely 3 games against teams from other conferences, out of the 40 they played!

    It's of course impossible to predict how the Lions would have fared in a NZ conference, but no one seriously believes it would have been the same...

  • 10stonenumber10
    12:33 PM 01/08/2017

    Thet's why Berrutt is a tin and not a sivun.

  • katman
    11:11 AM 01/08/2017

    It is a pretty stupid setup, and I hope the whole thing is relooked before next year. Everyone wants to see the best playing the best.

    But I'd be wary of the argument that the Lions lucked it into the top spot. The same argument can be made about the Crusaders' almost unbeaten run - that they would possibly have lost more than one if they'd played the Lions in the conference stage, and then missed out on a home semifinal. Only game the Lions lost all year was away against the Jaguares, when they kept just about the entire first choice team at home.

    As things stand now, NZ teams are 0 from 1 against the Lions in 2017 :)

  • im1
    8:54 AM 01/08/2017

    So the Lions get a home game as the final having not played a single game in NZ?

    I'm not having a go at the Lions, they can only play what its infront of the them, but seems like a pretty stupid set up for a competition.

  • pete
    7:32 AM 01/08/2017

    Hurricanes started so well, thought we had it in the bag... guess they did to, as they just lost the plot in the second half

    Fair play to the Lions for turning it around like that!

  • drg
    5:58 PM 31/07/2017

    Oh apologies to all, I didn't have sound on and ass-umed it was for the tackle, I hadn't even noticed the travel of the ball and Barretts influence.

    Looking at it again, I think it was a pretty fair effort to make it not look deliberate, or it was an accident that looked somewhat attempted... either way, big impact in the 22, opposition has a strong attack on, yellow seems fair...

    ...Apologies once again.

  • ruckinmaul
    4:23 PM 31/07/2017

    Totally agree. As a neutral, the yellow card is spot on. Well, perhaps Barrett was not intentional in what he was doing, but hey, it is in the latter of the law, intent or not, if you disrupt the ball in an almost certain try condition, you need to get penalize. Big time. Correct call.

  • 10stonenumber10
    3:30 PM 31/07/2017

    Fly close enough to the sun, you are going to get burned.

    Like the 3rd test, the ref called it right (if unpopular). Glad to see referees are unafraid of crowd and team reactions, too many decisions have been influenced by emotion over the years!

  • katman
    2:22 PM 31/07/2017

    I'm afraid you're dead wrong. Barrett was completely deliberate and cynical in the way he brought than ball back. Watch again - go straight to 3:30 in this video for the replay - and keep your eyes on the ball. As soon as Combrinck places it backwards, Barrett clenches the ball between his legs and scoots to the right. Peyper was spot-on and made a brave call, knowing the protest that would ensue.

    Jordie also knows his brother is in trouble and he quickly tries to tell the ref that he raked it back with his hands, but you can see he had no idea where the ball had disappeared to. In the context of the line break deep into the 22 and referees' instructions to protect quick attacking ball if the try is on, this is a yellow card all day long, no matter how much it hurts.

    I find the knee-jerk reaction to blame a SA ref for the loss really unpleasant. Perhaps the Kiwis don't lose often enough to know how to do so with grace. In fact, the scoreline should have been even bigger in favour of the Lions if you consider that the guy who plays Cronje at 0:54 is miles offside, and Savea's try should never have stood.

  • drg
    12:31 PM 31/07/2017

    Some lovely rugby and great awareness, but that card for Barrett was BS!

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