Emmanuel Tshituka scored a brace from the bench as the Lions boosted their playoff hopes with a bonus-point victory over Cardiff in Johannesburg on Saturday.

Two tries from Tshituka in the final 10 minutes gave the Lions a much-needed 34-13 victory at Ellis Park, after Cardiff threatened a second-half comeback.

The bonus-point win sees the Lions close the gap on eighth-placed Benetton to four points, after the Italian side produced a major upset by beating the Sharks in Durban.

Taking a 17-3 lead into half time, the Lions were in control of the match in the first half, repelling everything Cardiff threw at them, while scoring a couple of opportunistic tries.

JC Pretorius was particularly impressive, winning multiple turnovers and turnover penalties, while also making some strong carries in a man of the match performance for the Lions.

Sanele Nohamba slotted a 45-metre kick early in the second half to take the home to a 17-point lead, but Cardiff mounted a comeback, as a try from loosehead prop Corey Domachowski to go with a penalty from Tinus de Beer cut the deficit to a converted try.

The Lions called on Tshituka from the bench and the loose forward made a massive impact, scoring his first try off the back of a powerful driving maul, before almost setting up another with an incredible run from his own 22.

Tshituka would get the decisive fourth try as he ran an excellent line onto Erich Cronje’s pass, after an excellent tackle from Jordan Hendrikse caused Cardiff to lose the ball from a quick-tap penalty.

The Lions will host league leaders Glasgow Warriors next Saturday.

Photo: Gordon Arons/Gallo Images

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