Vincent Tshituka again showed his class as he went over with seconds remaining in the Rainbow Cup SA match against the Cell C Sharks in Durban on Saturday for the Emirates Lions’ bonus point try in their 26-34 loss.

The Lions were the dominant side in the second half, trailing by 24-12 at half-time.

In the first half, tries by PJ Botha and André Warner kept them in the game while Warner made up for his yellow card early in the game.

The home-side kicked off proceedings in the second half with a yellow for hands in the ruck and minutes later got their second marching orders after repeated infringements. It was, however, only in the 53rd minute that the Lions could capitalize through the efforts of Francke Horn just as Morné van den Berg took to the field.

The Sharks were not done and managed a strong maul try with 20 minutes to go, which extended their lead to 34-19 before Tshituka got on the board in the dying minutes.

Coach Ivan van Rooyen said the frustrating part of the loss was that the Lions started out slow and looked flat in the first 30 minutes of the game.

“The disappointing thing about the loss is that we were good enough to win. We had enough opportunities and that is why it is hurting,” he commented after the game

Points:
Lions: Tries: PJ Botha, Andre Warner, Francke Horn, Vincent Tshituka. Conversions: Fred Zeilinga (2), Jordan Hendrikse.