FULL TIME: BULLS 30-28 LIONS
The Lions miss a kick at the death and lose this pulsating derby. The Bulls won't be thrilled with their patchy performance but take four points away. The Bulls move up to fourth on the log while the Lions are left in tenth.
Time is up and the hooter has gone but the Lions have a penalty on halfway. Hendrikse misses the kick!
The Lions will have a lineout close to halfway in the last minute of play.
PENALTY, BULLS, GOOSEN, 30-28:
Goosen slots the kick to give the Bulls the lead.
The Bulls have a penalty call go their way but it is inside their own half. Goosen calls for the tee.
The Bulls are sending wave after wave of attack at the Lions inside their 22.
PENALTY, LIONS, HENDRIKSE, 27-28:
Hendrikse gives the Lions the lead late.
Hendrikse has just come on and has a long goal kick to give the Lions the lead after a scrum penalty.
The Bulls aren't happy with a call on a free kick that Nohamba takes and continue to argue even after they feed the lineout skew on halfway. The Lions have the scrum ball.
Grobbelaar wins a crucial penalty moments after giving one away and the Bulls want to use this to set them on their way to victory.
With the Lions hemmed in the Bulls give away a penalty that allows the visitors to switch play.
Van der Merwe can't stay in-field after gathering a loose ba but the Bulls want to get their bonus point try and are getting a little over-anxious.
It gets a bit helter-skelter as first the Lions intercept and then they knock on. Just after the Bulls advantage is called over Petersen knocks on into touch. The Lions have a scrum just inside their own half. They would far prefer to be playing the game in the Bulls half.
CONVERSION, LIONS, NOHAMBA, 27-25:
Nohamba converts the try.
TRY, LIONS, NAUDE, 27-23:
The Bulls bizarrely try to run the ball out of their own in-goal and Vorster is nailed and the Lions grab the loose ball and go over for the score.
The Bulls collapse the Lions maul and give away a penalty close to their line.
Vorster scrambles the ball clear but the Lions have the lineout feed.
CONVERSION, BULLS, GOOSEN, 27-18:
Goosen converts the try.
TRY, BULLS, GUMEDE, 25-18:
Gumede slips through thanks to the referee running inadvertent obstruction, The Lions fume but they cannot do anything about that.
The Lions get a slice of fortune as the kick ahead from Papier doesn't find a Bulls player. The Lions knock it on though and the Bulls will have another attacking scrum.
The Lions get a lineout steal but they knock it on, on the ground and the Bulls have a scrum feed but it takes a long time to get the scrum set.
The Bulls spill it on attack and the Lions find a clearance that takes play up towards halfway.
The Lions give away a penalty but Nohamba's intercept prevents a Bulls try and they come back for the kick to touch.
The Lions exit up towards halfway with a solid kick from the halfback.
PENALTY, LIONS, NOHAMBA, 20-18:
That lead is cut to two points.
The Lions call for the shot at goal from a scrum time penalty and they can close the gap to just two points.
The Lions turn to Louw again on the carry but he knocks on after the Lions scrum did well to get the ball out.
DROP GOAL, LIONS, NOHAMBA, 20-15:
Nohamba gets the Lions back within a score with that drop goal.
CONVERSION, BULLS, GOOSEN, 20-12:
Goosen extends the lead.
TRY, BULLS, PAPIER, 18-12:
The Bulls get fortunate as they lose the ball closer to the line but it falls to Papier.
The Bulls restart deep and the Lions try to play their way forward before eventually kicking but the Bulls bring it right back.
HALF TIME: BULLS 13-12 LIONS
The Lions have been enterprising at times and shown flashes of brilliance. The Bulls are steadier but a little but flat despite leading the match at the break. The Lions discipline is their major Achilles Heel right now.
The Lions will have another chance from the penalty and they surprisingly go for touch. Le Roux made a high tackle and the Lions want the score.
Nohamba nails a 50/22 that gets the Lions onto the attack once more before half time. But they give up the ball at the setpiece again and the Bulls clear their lines.
PENALTY, BULLS, GOOSEN, 13-12:
Goosen converts the penalty goal.
Poor show of discipline from Schoeman as he gives up two attacking penalty advantages to the Bulls. They cannot use them and will come back for the kick.
The Bulls take a quick lineout but Petersen runs into Ntlabakanye and bounces into touch. The Lions lose the ball from their lineout though and the Bulls can still attack.
A kicking battle ends with the Bulls finding touch close to halfway in their own half but Schoeman is down for the Lions and needs some medical attention.
The Lions stop the Bulls maul in midfield but they are penalised again. The Bulls kick the penalty dead though and the Lions have a scrum that straddles the halfway line.
The Bulls spill it in attack and the Lions have a scrum feed close to their own 22 and manage to get a penalty to aid them in clearing their lines.
Goosen is taken out after a kick again and this could be trouble for the Lions. Goosen is probably lucky to get a penalty there as that was gamesmanship and he has sucked in the gullible officlals.
CONVERSION, BULLS, GOOSEN, 10-12:
Goosen narrows the gap with his boot.
TRY, BULLS, VAN DER MERWE, 8-12:
Van der Merwe is over for an unconvincing score and they are lucky that one didn't get a TMO review.
The Bulls do set the maul but the Lions push the towards the touchline and Van der Merwe breaks.
The Bulls now win a scrum penalty and they set up an attacking lineout in prime position for the maul.
The Lions have to clear their lines from the goal-line and get it almost as far as the 22. The Bulls overthrow and Louw nearly steals it but knocks on. The Bulls send it wide but Horn intercepts the pass and we will come back for another Bulls scrum.
Nohamba gets himself in a pickle and knocks on under pressure to give the Bulls a scrum in the Lions 22.
CONVERSION, LIONS, NOHAMBA, 3-12:
Nohamba gets this one over.
TRY, LIONS, LOUW, 3-10:
Visagie goes over the top with the lineout feed and puts Louw straight through in under the sticks. Incredible play from the Lions and a great step by Louw to beat the line and get in for a great setplay score.
The Bulls let themselves down with another soft penalty as they fluff their lines on a kick chase.
The Lions call for the shot at goal after the Bulls are caught offside and they cannot take the advantage. However he misses the kick.
The Bulls again contest the exit kick and again they knock it on but they are getting up well. The Lions have the scrum feed just inside the Bulls half.
PENALTY, BULLS, GOOSEN 3-5:
Goosen goals his penalty to put the Bulls on the board.
The Bulls are fortunate to win a penalty after an uninspired attacking set sees them take it through the phases but fail to make any real headway.
The Lions find a good touch on halfway to end a good defensive set for them and the Bulls will be getting anxious. This Lions team looks a little bit different.
Goosen gets taken out after a kick and the Bulls get the penalty. Goosen dusts himself off and finds touch on the Lions 22. The Bulls reject the maul in favour of a set move but the Lions hold firm. A chip ahead is then gathered by the Lions.
Nohamba cannot convert the try he created for Louw.
TRY, LIONS, LOUW, 0-5:
Louw finishes off but this try is all about the enterprise of Nohamba when it looked like the Lions and Bulls were playing kick tennis. Nohamba spots a weakness in the Bulls line and is straight through, Horn looks like he might butcher it but gets the offload away to Louw.
The Lions come up with a big scrum and win the penalty. Nohamba kicks to touch and doesn't go very long. However, the Lions have an attacking lineout. The Bulls then steal it to negate all that work and they put up another contestable and it is knocked on again and we have another scrum ten inside the Lions half.
KICK OFF: Horn kicks off for the Lions, the Bulls take it in an quickly put in a contestable kick they cannot gather and the Lions will feed a scrum ten inside their own half.
Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Richard Kriel, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Marius Louw (captain), 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Sanele Nohamba, 9 Morne van den Berg, 8 Francke Horn, 7 Emmanuel Tshituka, 6 Hanru Sirgel, 5 Reinhard Nothnagel, 4 Ruben Schoeman, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 Jaco Visagie, 1 JP Smith.
Replacements: 16 Morne Brandon, 17 Morgan Naudé, 18 Ruan Dreyer, 19 Darrien Landsberg, 20 Izan Esterhuizen, 21 JC Pretorius, 22 Jordan Hendrikse, 23 Erich Cronje.
Bulls: 15 Willie Le Roux, 14 Sebastian de Klerk, 13 David Kriel, 12 Harold Voster, 11 Sergeal Petersen, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Mpilo Gumede, 7 Elrigh Louw, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Ruan Nortje (captain), 4 Deon Slabbert, 3 Mornay Smith, 2 Akker van der Merwe, 1 Simphiwe Matanzima.
Replacements: 16 Johan Grobbelaar, 17 Dylan Smith, 18 Khutha Mchunu, 19 Reinhardt Ludwig, 20 Cameron Hanekom, 21 Keagan Johannes, 22 Devon Williams, 23 Marcell Coetzee.
Greetings and a warm welcome to our coverage of the United Rugby Championship match between the Bulls and The Lions from Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria.
