Rugby-Last gasp Latham try earns Reds draw with Lions

JOHANNESBURG, March 22 (Reuters) - Fullback Chris Latham claimed a last-minute try to earn the Queensland Reds a 24-24 draw with the Lions in a Super 14 match on Saturday.

The Wallaby international ended a spell of sustained pressure to dive over close enough to the posts for wing Clinton Schifcofske to boot his conversion and level the scores as the siren sounded.

A helter-skelter second half featured five tries and a total of 45 points compared to an opening period containing only a fourth-minute penalty by Lions scrumhalf Jano Vermaak.

Reds flyhalf Quade Cooper should have cancelled out the penalty but was dispossessed by Lions centre Walter Venter when he was past the line and in the act of scoring.

The game sparked into life after the interval with Reds wing Peter Hynes grabbing the first try in the 47th minute.

Schifcofske converted to give the Reds a 10-6 lead but two tries in five minutes by the hosts looked to have taken the game away from Queensland.

Number eight Joe van Niekerk finished off a fine break by Lions flyhalf Jaco van Schalkwyk before wing Ryno Benjamin scored in the corner.

Replacement prop Rodney Blake barrelled over from a couple of metres to close the gap to four points with Schifcofske converting, only for Van Schalkwyk to drop a 55-metre goal to restore the seven-point lead for the Lions.

They clung on for 13 of the remaining 14 minutes until Latham struck.

(Reporting by Andy Colquhoun, Editing by Tony Jimenez)