The Lions snatched victory from the jaws of defeat to pip the Ospreys with an 82nd minute try that earned them a 29-28 triumph to end their BKT United Rugby Championship campaign on a high.
In a game that ebbed and flowed throughout it was the ninth try of the night that won it in the end as outside half Lubabalo Dobela squeezed over in the right corner to claim victory – and push his side ahead of their Welsh visitors in the final table.
Having reached the top eight last season, even with two bonus points in Johannesburg the Ospreys finished in 12th with seve wins and a draw from their 18 matches. The Lions ended on the same number of points, but took 11th place with one extra victory.
A tight first half saw the Lions lead 12-7, although given the amount of possession they had it could and should have been more. The Ospreys were dogged in defence, even without skipper Jac Morgan who was rested ahead of his upcoming British & Irish Lions duties, and stayed in the fight.
Springbok wing Edwill van der Merwe marked his last game before joining Sharks next season with the opening try just moments after Lubabalo Dobela’s effort was ruled out. But back row man Will Griffiths showed a wonderful anticipation from the re-start to charge down Richard Kriel’s attempted clearance to pounce for an equalising score.
Home skipper and hooker Jaco Visagie responded with a second home try, although the Ospreys could have led at the break had Reuben Morgan-Williams and Keiran Williams combined better after the former’s burst.
James Ratti finally finished a four-minute spell on the Lions try-line with the Ospreys’ second try only for Visagie to respond for a second time just minutes later as the game went one way and then the other. In total, the Ospreys led four times during the match.
Jack Walsh then raced through to round off a strong thrust from midfield ace Williams, but home centre Henco van Wyk stormed through two sloppy tackles to notch another Loins try that made it 24-21 to the South Africans with 10 minutes to go.
A trademark try from hooker Sam Parry looked to have won it for the visitors when he scored to regain the lead with only three minutes left on the clock. Dan Edwards’ fourth conversion of the game made it 28-24.
But then came the sting in the tail with Dobela crossing in the right corner for a matchwinning score.