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VIDEO: Lions maul 14-man Brumbies

The Brumbies – who conceded 19 penalties to go with their two yellow and one red card – held a 24-21 lead on the hour mark in a brutal contest.

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However, the Lions scored three tries in the final quarter, for a 42-24 victory – giving the 15,000 spectators plenty to cheer about.

The biggest culprit was the Brumbies' burly Wallaby lock Rory Arnold – who was issued a yellow card on the half-hour mark for a cynical foul and then handed a red card on the hour mark for a cheap shot on Lions flyhalf Elton Jantjies.

Soon after fellow Wallaby lock Sam Carter was yellow carded for repeated infringements and for 10 minutes the Brumbies were down to 13 men.

In the last 20 minutes the visitors became even more cynical.

The Brumbies desperately slowed the game down by faking injuries at virtually every stoppage.

The Brumbies were well worth their lead mid-way through the second half.

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The Lions, who had lost their last three matches on tour Down Under, picked up a full-house of five points for their victory and extended their lead atop the South African Conference and moved into second place in the Overall log.

The Brumbies left empty-handed and stayed fourth and 14th in the Australian Conference and Overall standings, respectively.

The defeat is the fifth on the bounce for the bumbling Brumbies, their longest losing streak since 2011.

Tom Banks raced through a huge hole in the Lions defence to give his team a perfect start.

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Rohan Janse Van Rensburg barged his way through to level the scores before the Brumbies, once again, took the lead.

After several phases of pick and drives inside the home team's 22, the away side went wide and Tevita Kuridrani bashed his way over the tryline.

The Lions levelled when they powered over after a driving maul. Robbie Coetzee got up from the melee with the ball.

Christian Lealiifano kicked a penalty, making it 14-17 before the break, but the Lions found time for another assault on the Brumbies line.

With time running out, they went to another driving maul.

The Brumbies pack had no answer to the red juggernaut and Ruan Dreyer flopped over for an easy try and the lead.

Banks was at his best, scoring a smart try after taking Lealiifano's inside ball early in the second half.

The fullback gathered, slipped a tackle and made a beeline for the posts, beating all and sundry.

Arnold was sent off at the start of the third quarter, with his side leading by three, for a high tackle on Elton Jantjies, who was playing in his 100th Super Rugby match.

The lock had been yellow carded in the first-half, but he received a straight red for his dangerous and reckless challenge.

He had to be called back out of the tunnel to receive his marching orders.

Sam Carter, two minutes' later, was also sent to the sin-bin and the Lions mauled their way into the lead for the second and final time.

This time it was Marnus Schoeman who dotted down over the whitewash, breaking the backbone of the Lopponentsonants.

The floodgates opened with the Lions scoring twice more in the final six minutes, leaving the Brumbies to lick their wounds.

Shaun Reynolds crossed after 10 phases and Lourens Erasmus also got in on the act after some magic from Jantjies.

The flyhalf put in a little dink-kick which Raun Combrinck gathered and offloaded to the supporting lock, who supplied the dagger.

Man of the match: You can always count on Wallaby flank David Pocock to put in a great performance, by virtue of his workrate. Our award goes to Lions flyhalf Elton Jantjies, who bounced back from several cheap shots to produce a masterclass of flyhalf play in his 100th game.

The scorers:

For the Lions:

Tries: Janse van Rensburg, Coetzee, Dreyer, Schoeman, Reynolds, Erasmus

Cons: Jantjies 6

For the Brumbies:

Tries: Banks, Kuridrani, Banks

Cons: Lealiifano 3

Pen: Lealiifano

Yellow cards: Rory Arnold (Brumbies, 29 – cynical foul, collapsing the maul), Sam Carter (Brumbies, 52 – repeated infringements, collapsing maul)

Red card: Rory Arnold (Brumbies, 60 – foul play, high tackle)

 

Teams:

Lions: 15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Sylvian Mahuza, 13 Aphiwe Dyantyi, 12 Rohan Janse Van Rensburg, 12 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 11 Madosh Michael Tambwe, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Nicholas Groom, 8 Hacjivah Dayimani, 7 Francois Mostert (captain), 6 Albertus Smith, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Lourens Erasmus, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 Robbie Coetzee, 1 Dylan Smith.

Replacements: 16 Corne Fourie, 17 Jacques van Rooyen, 18 Johannes Jonker, 19 Len Massyn, 20 Marnus Schoeman, 21 Ross Cronje, 22 Shaun Reynolds, 23 Ruan Combrinck.

Brumbies: 15 Tom Banks, 14 Henry Speight, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Kyle Godwin, 11 Andrew Muirhead, 10 Christian Lealiifano, 9 Joe Powell, 8 Isi Naisarani, 7 David Pocock, 6 Rob Valetini, 5 Sam Carter, 4 Rory Arnold, 3 Allan Alaalatoa, 2 Folau Fainga'a, 1 Scott Sio.

Replacements: 16 Robbie Abel, 17 Nick Mayhew, 18 Ben Alexander, 19 Blake Enever, 20 Lachlan Mccaffrey, 21 Tom Cusack, 22 Matt Lucas, 23 Andrew Smith.

Referee: Nick Briant (New Zealand)

Assistant referees: Quinton Immelman (South Africa), Stephen Geldenhuys (South Africa)

TMO: Marius Jonker (South Africa)

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