Last-gasp Lions add to Province's misery
MATCH REPORT: A last-gasp penalty kick by Tiaan Swanepoel handed Lions a narrow 22-19 win over the Western Province on Saturday.
Swanepoel, who made his Currie Cup debut for the Lions at fullback, scored five penalty goals – many of them from quite far out – as the home team snuck through for their second successive win.
For the Western Province the defeat is another performance which leaves them with more questions than answers.
*As it happened: Lions v WP
The Cape Town-based side, who have yet to record a Currie Cup win, looked well on their way to secure a rare win at Ellis Park, however another late implosion ended all their efforts.
The majority of the match was a dire affair as both teams lacked accuracy and made too many mistakes.
Tim Swiel and Swanepoel kept the score board ticking over before the break, with the Capetonians’ flyhalf slotting three penalty goals to the two from the home team’s fullback which saw the visitors lead 9-6 at the break.
Swiel added a fourth penalty goal early in the second half, while Swanepoel missed one but added his third with half an hour left on the clock.
Seabelo Senatla scored the first try of the match – linking up with his former Blitzbok teammate Ruhan Nel, the wing dived over for the five-pointer.
With Swiel adding the extras, WP were looking in control with a 10-point lead in the 54th minute.
Moments later Burger Odendaal raced away from an intercept, but the Lions midfielder was called back as the visitors didn’t get enough advantage from a knock-on by the home team.
But the Lions were finding their groove on attack and were threatening to break the blue and white wall. Then Nel made another telling play by effecting a steal on the hour mark with the home team pounding away at the Capetonians’ try-line.
Swanepoel added his fourth penalty goal a few minutes later and all of the sudden the Lions were back within reach at 19-12.
Then Steyn Pienaar’s turn for some magic, with the Lions wing rounding off a brilliant individual try as he caught the visitors napping from a tapped penalty 25m out, racing away for a try next to the uprights.
Lions captain Elton Jantjies’ conversion meant the scores were tied at 19-19 with just over five minutes left on the clock, but the hosts were in control at this stage and it was apt that Swanepoel had the last and most important say in the match on the stroke of full time.
Man of the match: Lions centre Burger Odendaal was lethal with his breaks. While Ruhan Nel and Tim Swiel were the standout performers for Western Province. However for his cool and calm demeanor and impressive kicking stats on debut our nod goes to Lions fullback Tiaan Swanepoel.
The scorers:
For Lions
Try: Pienaar
Con: Jantjies
Pens: Swanepoel 5
For Western Province:
Try: Senatla
Con: Swiel
Pens: Swiel 4
Teams
Lions: 15 Tiaan Swanepoel, 14 Stean Pienaar, 13 Wandisile Simelane, 12 Burger Odendaal, 11 Courtnall Skosan, 10 Elton Jantjies (captain), 9 Ross Cronjé, 8 Len Massyn, 7 Vincent Tshituka, 6 Jaco Kriel, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Willem Alberts, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 Jaco Visagie, 1 Sithembiso Sithole.
Replacements: 16 Jan-Henning Campher, 17 Dylan Smith, 18 Wiehahn Herbst, 19 Reinhard Nothnagel, 20 Wilhelm van der Sluys, 21 Roelof Smit, 22 Morné van den Berg, 23 Dan Kriel.
Western Province: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Seabelo Senatla, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Dan du Plessis, 11 Angelo Davids, 10 Tim Swiel, 9 Godlen Masimla, 8 Juarno Augustus, 7 Ernst van Rhyn, 6 Siyamthanda Kolisi (captain), 5 JD Schickerling, 4 Salmaaan Moerat, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Steven Kitshoff.
Replacements – from: 16 Siyabonga Ntubeni, 17 Ali Vermaak, 18 Neethling Fouche, 19 David Meihuizen, 20 Marcel Theunissen, 21 Johan du Toit, 22 Paul de Wet, 23 Tristan Leyds, 24 Jaco Coetzee, 25 Kade Wolhuter, 26 Rikus Pretorius.
Referee: Griffin Colby
Assistant referees: Marius van der Westhuizen and Rasta Rasivhenge
TMO: Marius Jonker
