The Lions have held on against the Chiefs to record a famous 23-17 victory at FMG Stadium in Hamilton.
The visitors dominated from the opening whistle as the Chiefs made basic errors handing the ball back to the Lions.
They turned down two early opportunities to go for a try, instead opting to kick for goal to take it out to a six-point lead.
Every time the Chiefs looked likely a knock on or a forward pass would come - handing possession back to the Lions, giving away 21 turnovers for the match.
Scrum time was ever more dominant for the South African's - crushing the Chiefs throughout the first half.
Carlu Sadie scored the opening try, a deserved result for the team which was on the front foot for the opening 40.
Aphiwe Dyantyi scored the visitors four minutes later after a lovely kick from captain Warren Whiteley to take the score to 20-0 at half time.
It was more of the same in the second half until Chiefs captain Brad Weber broke the game open with a run down the left wing.
The halfback found Anton Lienert-Brown who gave it to Shaun Stevenson and he passed it to Sean Wainui who scored in the corner.
The try woke up the hosts who scored moments later, it seemed as though the whole team touched the ball before prop Nepo Laulala scored the second try.
The home side never gave up, throwing passes and keeping the ball alive.
A Marty McKenzie cross-field kick found Alex Nankivell who passed the ball to a supportive Tumua Manu to score the try and give the Chiefs a shot to win the match.
But the margin to overcome was too large as the home side fell short- an 80th-minute drop goal from Elton Jantjies sealed the win for the Lions, hanging on 23-17.
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