Lions rule Kings in thriller
It was a match that saw the momentum change hands with regularity as the visitors ran in three tries of their own but it proved too little as the home side continued their unbeaten run in the competition, after claiming their fifth consecutive bonus point victory.
It was one way traffic in the opening 13 minutes as the home side claimed three tries to race to a 19-0 lead. A fourth minute penalty try got the scoreboard rolling after the Kings collapsed a textbook rolling maul. Jaco van der Walt added the extras.
The Lions were in a running mood and grabbed their second try in the 11th minute when Ruan Combrinck raced down the touchline before being brought down five metres short of the try line. Albertus Smith was there to pick the ball up and dived over the try line for the score. Karlo Aspeling collected the restart but his attempted clearance kick was charged down by Nicolaas Hanekom and the outside centre collected the ball to grab the score. Van der Walt added his second conversion of the match.
The Kings hit back immediately when they went straight up field and Paul Schoeman got the visitors close to the lions' try line. The ball was quickly recycled and sent out wide and the ball found Siyanda Grey, who got over the line with ease. Aspeling slotted his first kick of the match.
The visitors had their tails up and found reward in the 23rd minute when Paul Schoeman crossed the line after a well-executed driving maul from a five metre line-out. Aspeling slotted the conversion from close to the touchline to reduce the deficit to five points.
The Lions grabbed their bonus point in the 30th minute when Stephan de Wit dotted down after grabbing the final pass from Howard Mnisi but it was the work of Combrink in the build-up that handed his team the momentum. Van der Walt added a penalty with the final kick of the half as the home side led by 13 points at the break.
The second half got off to a cagey start with nether side looking like scoring and it would take 15 minutes for the first points to be scored when Schoeman grabbed a brace off the back of another well executed rolling maul. Aspeling slotted the conversion to reduce the deficit to six points.
A period of arm wrestling would ensure for the next 15 minutes before Marnitz Boshoff slotted a penalty to secure the Lions' first points of the half. All hopes of a Kings late comeback was put to rest in the 76th minute when Eital Bredenkamp was sent to the bin for not releasing the tackled player on two consecutive occasions.
The match came to a dramatic conclusion when Combrink rounded off the final play of the match. The Kings' Hansie Graaff was shown a straight red card for not only throwing a punch but also dangerously cleaning out a Lions player at the breakdown, in the lead up to the try.
Boshoff added the extra points with the final kick of the match.
Man of the Match: Paul Schoeman was by far the standout player for the Kings throughout the encounter while Thembelani Bholi came to life in second half. Malcolm Marx proved why he is one of the best young hookers in the country and Jaco van der Walt simply ran the show from No.10. Howard Mnisi was his nippy and elusive self in midfield but our award goes to a man who was simply in a league of his own, even when he had to take up a position on the wing – Albertus Smith.
Scorers:
For the Golden Lions:
Tries: Penalty try, Smith, Hanekom, de Wit, Combrink
Cons: van der Walt 2, Boschoff
Pens: van der Walt, Boshoff
For the EP Kings:
Tries: Grey, Schoeman 2
Cons: Aspeling 3
Yellow card: Eital Bredenkamp (EP Kings, 76 – repeated cynical infringements, not releasing the tackled player)
Red card: Hansie Graaff (EP KINGS, 80 – foul play, punching and dangerous clean out)
Teams:
Lions: 15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Ruan Combrinck, 13 Nicolaas Hanekom, 12 Howard Mnisi (captain), 11 Anthony Volmink, 10 Jaco van der Walt, 9 Lohan Jacobs, 8 Fabian Booysen, 7 Albertus Smith, 6 Stephan de Wit, 5 Martin Muller, 4 Luvuyiso Lusaseni, 3 Julian Redelinghuys, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Jacques van Rooyen.
Replacements: 16 Robbie Coetzee, 17 Ruan Dreyer, 18 Lourens Erasmus, 19 Jano Venter, 20 Ricky Schroeder, 21 Marnitz Boshoff, 22 Jacques Nel.
Eastern Province Kings: 15 Hansie Graaff, 14 Siyanda Grey, 13 Ronnie Cooke, 12 Tim Whitehead (captain), 11 Sylvian Mahuza, 10 Karlo Aspeling, 9 Dwayne Kelly, 8 Paul Schoeman, 7 Stefan Willemse, 6 Thembelani Bholi, 5 Cameron Lindsay, 4 Tazz Fuzani, 3 Simon Kerrod, 2 Edgar Marutlulle, 1 Lizo Gqoboka.
Replacements: 16 Michael van Vuuren, 17 Basil Short, 18 Cornell Hess, 19 Eital Bredenkamp, 20 Enrico Acker, 21 Elgar Watts, 22 JP du Plessis.
Referee: Stuart Berry
Assistant referees: AJ Jacobs, Ricus van der Hoven
TMO: JJ Wagner
