Bok concern as ruthless Lions punish sloppy Pumas in 10-try rout

MATCH REPORT: The Lions ran riot in Nelspruit as they scored a massive 75-21 win over the Pumas in the Currie Cup.

It was a near-perfect debut for Lions flyhalf Sam Francis who opened the scoring with back-to-back penalties in the third and ninth minutes respectively to give his side a six-point lead.

The debutant didn’t stop there as the Lions went on the attack with Manuel Rass breaking the line and Francis stepping and going over the line for the opening try – in what was a player-of-the-match performance for the pivot.

Francis added another penalty in the 16th minute before the Pumas struck back through a try by flyhalf Clinton Swart after 14 phases of attack under a penalty advantage.

There might be cause for concern for new Springbok wing Edwill van der Merwe who went off in the 19th minute and didn’t look too happy.

The Lions struck again in the 25th minute as they attacked under a penalty advantage and Nico Steyn gave a long pass to Tapiwa Mafura to dot down in the corner.

Mafura was at it again 10 minutes later to get his second try after selling the dummy and going over to score.

Flyhalf Clinton Swart had an evening forget as he had his passes intercepted twice by Maxwane, the first shortly after Mafura’s score in the 37th minute to give the visitors a 35-7 lead at half-time.

The Pumas struck first in the second half – with the first try being disallowed due to obstruction in the line-out but they eventually got over the line through Ross Benade who sniped at the breakdown to score the Pumas’ second try.

The Lions struck back yet again with good attacking play as Rass got it away to Sibahle Maxwane who got his pass away to Steyn to go over the line.

Maxwane’s second intercept came in the 58th minute off Clinton Swart’s pass as he went on to score his brace.

Discipline and defence proved to be a problem for the home side as the Lions went on the attack and got a penalty for a high tackle.

They went for the line-out and it took a mere three phases for Sibabalo Qoma to dot down who came onto the field less than five minutes prior.

The Pumas got another penalty and set a line-out which they attacked off, but the ball was ripped in the tackle by Renzo du Plessis as the Lions went wide immediately and played it back – with the Pumas defence in disarray Francis got his pass away to Gianni Lombard who strolled in for another Lions try.

The Pumas finally made an attacking line-out count again when Dewald Maritz crashed over for their third try off a maul.

The Lions got another score in the 75th minute after a quick tap penalty by Morné van den Berg followed by a great attack from deep inside their own half shortly after as the ball went through multiple sets of hands before Lombard assisted Mafura to go in for his hat-trick.

The Pumas had one last chance in the dying stages of the match to salvage a four-try bonus point but a knock-on denied them that as the Lions emerged as winners with a comprehensive win away from home.

Scorers: 

For the Pumas:
Tries: Swart, Braude, Maritz
Cons: Visagie, Swart 2

For the Lions: Tries: Francis, Steyn, Qoma, Lombard, Van den Berg, Maxwane 2, Mafura 3
Cons: Francis 8
Pens: Francis 3

Teams:

Pumas: 15 Stefan Coetzee, 14 Kabelo Mokoena, 13 De-an Ackermann, 12 Wian van Niekerk, 11 Phiko Sobahle, 10 Clinton Swart, 9 Ross Braude, 8 Kwanda Dimaza, 7 Ruwald van der Merwe, 6 Ntsika Fisanti, 5 Shane Kirkwood (captain), 4 Malembe Mpofu, 3 Sampie Swiegers, 2 Eduan Swart, 1 Etienne Janeke.
Replacements: 16 Darnell Osuagwu, 17 Dewald Maritz, 18 Munashe Mhere, 19 Deon Slabbert, 20 Marvelous Mashimbyi, 21 Richman Gora, 22 Danrich Visagie, 23 Tino Swanepoel.

Lions: 15 Gianni Lombard, 14 Edwill van der Merwe, 13 Manuel Rass, 12 Rynhardt Jonker, 11 Sibahle Maxwane, 10 Sam Francis, 9 Nico Steyn, 8 Izan Esterhuizen, 7 Ruan Venter, 6 Jarod Cairns, 5 Ruben Schoeman, 4 Raynard Roets, 3 RF Schoeman, 2 Jaco Visagie (captain), 1 Morgan Naudé.
Replacements: 16 Jacque-Lois du Toit, 17 SJ Kotze, 18 Conrad van Vuuren, 19 Sibabalo Qoma, 20 Ruhan Straeuli, 21 Renzo du Plessis, 22 Morné van den Berg, 23 Tapiwa Mafura.

Referee: Sean Muller
TMO: Christie du Preez

Picture Credit: Johan Orton