Lions maul error-ridden Western Province 

MATCH REPORT: The Lions made it two wins from as many attempts in the Currie Cup after defeating Western Province convincingly by 40-19 at Ellis Park on Saturday.

It was a clinical performance from the hosts, whilst the visitors never stopped fighting, but were ultimately outclassed by the men from Johannesburg.

The result means that the Lions have maximum points from their two home matches, whilst Western Province are still looking for their first log points of the season.

*To recap all the action CLICK HERE!

Western Province came out of the blocks running the ball from the kick-off and showing their intentions early on.

The visitors struck early with a shifting rolling maul when No.8 Louw Nel dotted down in the opening five minutes. The conversion was missed.

The Lions struck back to level matters when Nico Steyn, in tandem with Rynhardt Jonker, set up his flyhalf Lubabalo Dobela in the sixth minute for his side’s opening try, which he converted to take the lead.

Western Province won a penalty when Jarod Cairns failed to roll away at the breakdown and opted for the line-out inside the Lions’ 22 metre area.

The Capetonians won the line-out, but Jaco Visagie intercepted the ball as the Lions ran it from their own half and earned a penalty for offside against both WP locks.

The Lions opted to roll the dice themselves and opted for the corner and earned another penalty for no release in the tackle by Zain Davids and took the attacking scrum.

The decision backfired as their attack didn’t go to plan and the ball was lost backwards into touch when the Lions opted to go wide.

The Lions continued their attack after the clearance kick and earned another penalty.

The hosts went to the corner again and set a powerful rolling maul, which resulted in a penalty try and a yellow card for former Lions player Sti Sithole in the 15th minute.

Former Western Province wing Angelo Davids conceded a breakdown penalty, which gave the visitors an attacking line-out inside the Lions’ red zone, but lost the ball in contact on attack.

Lions centre Rynhardt Jonker was caught offside after a relentless Western Province attack, and the visitors opted for the kick in front of the posts, which Kyle Smith hooked wide to the right.

The Lions made the visitors pay for their errors after a turnover won inside their own half, followed by clinical hands through backs and forwards that set Rabz Maxwane up for the Lions’ third try of the afternoon in the 23rd minute, which Dobela converted.

The visitors held on after a brutal Lions onslaught and upped the tempo, which saw a line-break by Damian Markus that led to a penalty, which Asad Moos took quickly.

Opposite No.9 Nico Steyn got penalised and yellow carded for not being back 10 metres in the 35th minute as Western Province opted for the scrum.

Their decision paid off when Gideon van Wyk dotted down a minute later to close the gap and score Western Province’s second try of the afternoon, which Kyle Smith converted.

The Lions contested the restart, which Zain Davids had to scramble back for and clean up before the hosts turned the ball over and went wide, but Darrien Landsberg lost the ball forward.

Kyle Smith received the pass from Asad Moos and kicked to touch as the teams headed for oranges.

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The second half started with Western Province showing the intent they did during the opening stanza, but their handling let them down.

The visitors won a penalty moments later for offside and opted for the line-out just inside the Lions’ 22 metre area, but once again lost the ball in contact.

A line-out steal set the Lions up to attack wide, which had the Western Province defenders scrambling.

The Lions worked the ball back that set WJ Steenkamp up to score the bonus-point try in the 48th minute, which Dobela converted.

Moments later, Morgan Naude was penalised for offside and Kyle Smith set the line-out up inside the Lions’ 22 metre area.

A powerful drive under penalty advantage saw the visitors being relentless on attack before time was called off for injuries to props Morgan Naude and Sti Sithole.

Western Province opted for the corner and did a shift maul that saw Louw Nel grab a brace in the 53rd minute. Kyle Smith slotted the conversion from out wide.

The Lions earned a penalty on a Western Province feed in the 62nd minute and opted for the corner, which paid off when captain Jaco Visagie dotted down for the hosts’ fifth try of the day off a maul, which Dobela converted.

Replacement Tristan Leyds’ indecisiveness led to him being tackled out. The Lions won a penalty for a collapsed maul and went to the corner again, which saw Jaco Visagie grab a brace in the 68th minute. Dobela missed the conversion.

Leyds kicked the restart short of 10 metres and Gianni Lombard kicked a grubber, nailing a 50-22, earning his side another attacking line-out, but lost the ball.

Time was called off after the scrum for an injury to Lions prop Heiko Pohlmann, who was helped off with a medical cart in the 73rd minute.

Back-to-back penalties gifted Western Province gave them an attacking opportunity just outside the Lions’ 22 metre area, but another handling error inside the Lions’ red zone cost the visitors the opportunity to score their fourth try of the afternoon.

Western Province had one final scrum after a Lions error on their own 10-metre line, but a knock-on by Sako Makata signalled the end of the match, with the Lions taking the full house of points and Western Province leaving empty-handed.

Scorers:

For the Lions:
Tries: Dobela, Maxwane, Visagie 2, Steenkamp, Penalty try does not require a conversion
Cons: Dobela 4

For Western Province:
Tries: Nel 2, Van Wyk
Cons: Smith 2

Yellow cards: Sti Sithole (Western Province, 15′ – cynical foul: collapsing a maul at momentum), Nico Steyn (Lions, 35′ – cynical foul: Not back 10 metres in red zone)

Teams

Lions: 15 Gianni Lombard, 14 Angelo Davids, 13 Manuel Rass, 12 Rynhardt Jonker, 11 Rabz Maxwane, 10 Lubabalo Dobela, 9 Nico Steyn, 8 WJ Steenkamp, 7 Jarod Cairns, 6 Renzo du Plessis, 5 Darrien Landsberg, 4 Raynard Roets, 3 RF Schoeman, 2 Jaco Visagie (captain), 1 Morgan Naude.
Replacements: 16 Marno Grobbelaar, 17 SJ Kotze, 18 Heiko Pohlmann, 19 Dylan Sjoblom, 20 Siba Qoma, 21 Layton Horn, 22 Kade Wolhuter, 23 Kelly Mpeku.

Western Province: 15 Shilton van Wyk, 14 Sako Makata, 13 Luke Burger, 12 Damian Markus, 11 Jared Africa, 10 Kyle Smith, 9 Asad Moos, 8 Louw Nel, 7 Gideon van Wyk, 6 Zain Davids (captain), 5 Gary Porter, 4 Alex Groves, 3 Zachary Porthen, 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 Sti Sithole.
Replacements: 16 Lukhanyo Vokozela, 17 Mhleli Khuzwayo, 18 Arno Gustafson, 19 Andre Goedhals, 20 Erhard Lambrecht, 21 Ezekiel Ngobeni, 22 Gino Cupido, 23 Tristan Leyds.

Referee: Christopher Allison
Assistant referees: Stephan Geldenhuys, Paul Mente
TMO: Archie Sehlako

Image credit: @LionsRugbyCo