Johan Goosen boots Vodacom Bulls to narrow win over Emirates Lions

Johan Goosen kicked a late penalty from inside his own half to send the Vodacom Bulls into the United Rugby Championship top four after a thrilling 30-28 win over the Emirates Lions in Pretoria.

Jordan Hendrikse looked like he might have won it for the visiting Lions with a late long-range penalty of his own but Goosen responded in kind with two minutes remaining to put the Bulls back in front.

There was still time for Hendrikse to have a chance to snatch victory with another 50-metre penalty, but his kick sailed narrowly wide.

Marius Louw had earlier scored a pair of tries for the Lions with Morgan Naude also going over while Akker van der Merwe, Embrose Papier and Mpilo Gumede crossed for the hosts.

Goosen converted all three Bulls tries and added three penalties as kicking proved decisive, with Sanele Nohamba only managing to convert one and add a penalty in addition to Hendrikse’s late effort.

The Lions went ahead with a stunning try after five minutes.

Nohamba picked the ball up just outside his own 22 and spotted a gap in the Bulls backline and turned on the jets to burst past three defenders before drawing in his man and flipping wide to Quan Horn, who was brought down close to line before offloading to Louw to crash over.

After Goosen had reduced the gap with a penalty, Louw went in for his second try of the afternoon when Jaco Visagie's long throw from a lineout picked out the centre, who stepped inside his man to create the space to run unopposed to the line and Nohamba's conversion made it 12-3.

The Bulls battled back but resolute defence from the Lions kept them at bay before hooker Van der Merwe burrowed his way over under the posts with Goosen adding the extras to reduce the gap to two points.

Goosen kicked a penalty in the closing moments of the first half to put the Bulls ahead for the first time and send them into the break 13-12 ahead.

And the hosts needed just two minutes of the second half to extend the advantage as quick reactions from Papier saw him scoop up a loose ball from the ruck and touch down.

Number eight Gumede powered over to keep Bulls in control but Lions came roaring back as Naude capitalised on a defensive error to crash over, before the kickers took centre stage in a dramatic finale.

Vodacom United Rugby Championship Player of the Match

Papier marshalled his backs with authority as the Bulls refused to panic after conceding two early tries and his opportunist score was pivotal in the victory.

Play of the Match

The opening try just five minutes into the content was a thing of beauty. Nohamba spotted a gap and turned on the jets to burst past three defenders before feeding Horn, who in turn offloaded to Louw to power over.