Late Johnstone try keeps Lions in hunt

A try nine minutes from the end by Lions' Wallaby scrumhalf Brett Johnstone snatched a 31-25 victory from an impending shock defeat at Ellis Park on Saturday and ensured a quarterfinal place in the Vodacom Cup for the champions.

North West Leopards led 25-24 until Johnstone broke clear from a loose scrum to run 30m for the clinching try, converted by flyhalf Gareth Wright. It ended a brave display by the visitors who narrowly failed to earn a second bonus point for four tries, falling one short of the mark.

Although edged out 30-27 at Brakpan by the Blue Bulls, the Falcons earned two bonus points to seal a quarterfinal home game later this month. In a match which produced seven tries, the Bulls found early chinks in the home defence and led 17-10 at the break.

Section leaders Griquas remain unbeaten and set for a home last eight fixture when they beat the NFS Griffons 57-5 in Kimberley, scoring seven tries for a fullhouse five points. Scholtz and Manana each scored two tries.

In Windhoek, the Mpumalanga Pumas had a runaway 41-17 win over Namibia's Welwitschias, also scoring seven tries for a haul of five points but Natal Wildebeest went down 23-18 to the Eastern Province Elephants in Port Elizabeth after an exciting first half that ended 18-all.

Scorers

Lions 31 - tries: Nic Moore,Pietman van Niekerk and Brett Johnstone; penalties: Gareth Wright (4); conversions: Wright (2).

Leopards 25 - tries: Diaan Kruger, Casper Oosthuizen and Keith Meyer; penalties: Roland de Marigny (2); conversions De Marigny (2).

Falcons 27 - tries: Piet Matthys, Freddy Roberts (2), Bertus Heunis; penalties: Joe Esterhuysen (1); conversions: Esterhuysen and Cliff MacMahon.

Bulls 30 - tries: Chris Kruger, Joseph Ntshongwane and Draadkar de Lange; penalties: Tiaan Snyman (3); conversions: Snyman (3).