Lions drown Blues in treacherous game
Rain in Johannesburg in winter is rare; rain in Auckland in winter is frequent. And yet it was the Johannesburg side that played as if it were a sunny day and the Auckland side that played as if all at sea as the rain poured straight down from the night sky.
The Lions were, to put it simply, stronger, faster, fitter, cleverer, more creative, more cohesive than the Blues. The scummed better as steam arose from the packed players, lineouted better, defended better, dominated the tackles and were generally much, much sharper. It may have been the weather that kept them from a high score.
The Lions had a bit of a setback when lock Andries Ferreira was injured in the warm-up and rookie Ruan Ackerman, more often a flank came into lock. Ackermann's first actin the match set up the Lions' first try, which came after 54 seconds.
Elton Jantjies kicked off for the Lions and the Blues had a throw-in to a line-out, but Ackermann, at No.2, stole the ball. The Lions went right with Jaco Kriel making good ground and then further right where Warren Whiteley spun out of two tackles and scored – after 54 seconds. 5-0, despite an easy conversion.
The Blues were finding high kicks hard to hold onto – commitment? courage?
The Lions had a line-out on their left and mauled. The referee allowed advantage and they went wide right. They came back left and Jantjies lobbed a light diagonal which Courtnall Skosan chased and miraculously grabbed in in-goal scoring a try a few centimetres from touch-in-goal. Jantjies converted from the touchline. 12-0 after 7 minutes.
The Lions came back on the attack and, going right, Jantjies chipped a kick off the outside of his left boot and two Lions were grabbing at the ball in in-goal. Rohan Janse van Rensburg got it and scored. 19-0 after 10 minutes.
Those who were there, enduring the rain and the bitter cold, warmed up by pinching themselves. After the horrible Hurricanes' defeat this seemed unreal.
In this match the Blues had four five-metre line-outs and did not score from any of them because the Lions were so aggressively secure on defence.
Twice the Blues went through 10 or more phases. The first time they were penalised; the second time they conceded a turnover.
Half-time arrived with the score 19-0.
The Lions went through their penalty, line-out, maul sequence and were stopped just short of the goal-line. They went wide right where Jantjies held the defence and gave Lionel Mapoe an eight-metre run to the line. He cut through, added his usual cockscomb to his shaven head and scored near the posts. 26-0 after 36 minutes.
Big Malcolm Marx intercepted a scrumhalf pass and made good ground down the midfield. He was tackled and the Blues were penalised.
Again it was penalty, line-out, maul but this time they got the maul over the line for a try credited to Warwick Tecklenburg. 31-0 after 50 minutes.
The Lions started making changes after this till everybody had a chance to join in the fiesta.
It didn't matter when Mapoe lost the ball over the line as the Lions opted for a five-metre scrum instead of a penalty and went right where Mapoe scored near the posts. 38-0 after 65 minutes.
Substitutes continued. Even Jantjies went off, replaced by young Sylvian Mahuza who went to fullback.
Still the Lions attacked. And then the Blues had their best period of play as the game slid to an end.
They went through their phases, this time advancing, till out on the left wing substitute loose forward Joe Edwards had an overlap, then handed off Howard Mnisi and scored half-way in. 38-5.
The Lions did not rest but ended the match with the best try of the evening.
The Lions won a turnover about 12 metres inside their own half. Mnisi got the ball and ran down the right, sold a a dummy and accelerated. He agreed with Whiteley's suggestion that he grubber infield. Whiteley fell on the ball and the Lions went left. Just in from the touchline little Mahuza dummied, broke and gave inside to Mapoe who was over to complete his hat-trick.
The Lions warmed up and shone on an otherwise dank evening.
Man of the Match: That's hard, for so many did so well. There were exceptional performances by Ross Cronje and Rohan Janse van Rensburg amongst the backs. In the back there were dominant men in Julian Redelinghuys, Malcolm Marx, Warren Whitely and Jaco Kriel who ran 89 metres with the ball. made six tackles and won three turnovers. But our choice is the little general at flyhalf who did everything a flyhalf should do – caught, passed, kicked an tackled and "made" four of the seven tries – Elton Jantjies.
Scorers:
For the Lions:
Tries: Whiteley, Skosan, Janse van Rensburg, Mapoe 3, Tecklenburg
Cons: Jantjies 4, Combrink
For the Blues:
Try: Edwards
Teams:
Lions: 15 Jaco van der Walt, 14 Ruan Combrinck, 13 Lionel Mapoe, 12 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 11 Courtnall Skosan, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Ross Cronje, 8 Warren Whiteley (captain), 7 Warwick Tecklenburg, 6 Jaco Kriel, 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Ruan Ackermann, 3 Julian Redelinghuys, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Dylan Smith.
Replacements: 16 Armand van der Merwe, 17 Corne Fourie, 18 Jacques van Rooyen, 19 Robert Kruger, 20 Cyle Brink, 21 Francois de Klerk, 22 Howard Mnisi, 23 Sylvian Mahuza.
Blues: 15 Lolagi Visinia, 14 Melani Nanai, 13 George Moala, 12 Piers Francis, 11 Tevita Li, 10 Ihaia West, 9 Bryn Hall, 8 Steven Luatua, 7 Tanerau Latimer, 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Hoani Matenga, 4 Patrick Tuipulotu, 3 Charlie Faumuina, 2 James Parsons (captain), 1 Sam Prattley.
Replacements: 16 Quentin MacDonald, 17 Nic Mayhew, 18 Ofa Tu'ungafasi, 19 Kara Pryor, 20 Joe Edwards, 21 Billy Guyton, 22 Matt McGahan, 23 Male Sa'u.
Referee: Jaco van Heerden (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Jaco Peyper (South Africa), Lesego Legoete (South Africa)
TMO: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)
