The Golden Lions scored an unconvincing 19-13 victory over the Boland Cavaliers in a hard-fought Currie Cup rugby match in Wellington on Friday after leading 7-6 at halftime.

The Cavaliers once again showed they are not an easy pushover on their home ground and they deserved to take a bonus point out of the match.

The Lions, on the other hand, will have to step up a gear if they intend to be a factor for the remainder of the season.

Boland opened the scoring in the third minute when fullback Justin Peach succeeded with a straight forward penalty to make it 3-0 in favour of the homes side.

In the 12th minute, Peach increased the lead to 6-0 after a well-struck penalty from the touchline. Two minutes later, fullback Earl Rose had the opportunity to put the Lions on the board, but he missed a straight forward kick.

Lions left wing Henno Mentz scored the first try of the match in the 23rd minute after the Cavaliers fumbled a golden opportunity to get out of their own half. Rose converted to earn a one point lead for his side.

During the next six minutes, Boland attacked strongly but poor handling let them down time and again. Boland suffered a setback in the 33rd minute when inside centre Dewey Swartbooi, who was rock solid on defence, limped off the field.

He was replaced by Lionel Cornelius. Two minutes before halftime, Peach failed to give Boland the lead after a penalty kick just missed the uprights.

Rose increased the Lions' lead to 10-6 with a penalty in the second minute after halftime. Currie Cup debutant Ruan Boshoff was yellow carded in the fifth minute after tackling Boland's Marnus Hugo in the air.

In the 50th minute, Boland were award a penalty try after a dangerous tackle on left wing Ernie Kruger on the tryline. Peach converted to make it 13-10.

Rose levelled the scores in the 63rd minute with a penalty right in front of the posts. The Lions were awarded another easy penalty in the 68th minute and Rose made no mistake
for a three point lead.

Rose made the final score 19-13 with a penalty in front of the posts five minutes from fulltime.

Scorers:

For Lions:
Try: Mentz
Con: Rose
Pens: Rose 4

For Boland:
Try: Penalty try 
Con: Peach
Pens: Peach 2

Teams:

Boland Cavaliers: 15 Justin Peach, 14 Deon Scholtz, 13 Hein Myburgh, 12 Dewey Swartbooi, 11 Ernie Kruger, 10 Elgar Watts, 9 Marnus Hugo, 8 Junior Bester, 7 Carel Hoffman, 6 Wendal Wehr, 5 Rito Hlungwane, 4 Nico Esterhuyse, 3 Johan Roets, 2 Conrad Burke (captain), 1 Janro van Niekerk.
Replacements: 16 Clemen Lewis, 17 AN Other, 18 Frikkie Spies, 19 Zolani Mofu, 20 Danie van der Merwe, 21 Lionel Cornelius, 22 Llewellyn Adonis.

Lions: 15 Earl Rose, 14 Shandre Frolick, 13 Alwyn Hollenbach, 12 Doppies la Grange, 11 Henno Mentz, 10 Ruan Boshoff, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 Willem Alberts, 7 Franco van der Merwe, 6 Cobus Grobbelaar (captain), 5 Johan Snyman, 4 Nico Luus, 3 Gert Muller, 2 Hans van Dyk, 1 JC Janse van Rensburg,
Replacements: 16 Derek Harwood, 17 Kevin Buys, 18 Wouter Moore, 19 Todd Clever, 20 Chris Jonck, 21 Pieter Engelbrecht, 22 Dusty Noble

Date: Friday, 7 August
Venue: Boland Stadium, Wellington
Kick-off: 15.30 (13.30 GMT)
Referee: Jaco Peyper
Assistant referees: Gareth Lloyd-Jones, Christie du Preez

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