Benetton's late surge sinks Lions in Challenge Cup
MATCH REPORT: Two tries by centre Leonardo Marin and a drop goal by Tomas Albornoz helped Benetton surge past the Lions in the final 10 minutes on their way to a 26-18 victory in Saturday’s Challenge Cup Round One clash.
It was a scrappy and sluggish affair for most of the 80 minutes at Ellis Park before the visitors tore the Lions apart in the final stages.
The Lions weren’t helped by Kelly Mpeku’s yellow card in the 68th minute, which just gave the visitors more space to work with.
Ivan van Rooyen’s side will now head to England to face Newcastle in Round Two.
It was the perfect start for Benetton in Johannesburg.
After sustained pressure inside the Lions’ half, the ball went wide to fullback Rhyno Smith, who went over in the corner in the sixth minute.
It was a two-point ball game in the 10th minute after Jacob Umaga missed the conversion attempt before Chris Smith got the Lions on the board with a penalty goal.
Umaga made amends for his miss with a penalty goal of his own a few minutes later.
However, the Lions had the final say in the first half with Mpeku getting a favourable bounce after a Quan Horn grubber before gathering and scoring a try.
Smith added the conversion, and at half-time it was 10-8 to the Lions.
The momentum was on the Lions’ side in the early stages of the second half, and they were rewarded in the 46th minute when Ruan Venter crashed over for a try.
Chris Smith made it a 10-point lead in the 57th minute with his second penalty goal.
However, with the match entering the final quarter, the visitors stayed in touch with a three-pointer from Albornoz.
Benetton were given a huge advantage in the 68th minute when Mpeku saw yellow for a deliberate knock-on.
They made the advantage count after Marin raced away for his team’s second try after getting the ball from a neat offload from So’otala Fa’aso’o.
Albornoz added the extra two points to level the scores in the 72nd minute.
The gaps were starting to appear in the Lions’ defence, and Marin was in again in the 75th minute after some brilliant running and support play between backs and forwards.
Louis Lynagh should’ve put the game to bed after a brilliant chip and chase, but he lost control of the ball over the tryline.
However, Albornoz made sure of victory with a brilliant drop goal in the 79th minute.
Man of the match: The award goes to Manuel Zuliani, who was a strong presence at the breakdowns and just brought the physicality that was needed against the South Africans.
The scorers:
For Lions:
Tries: Mpeku, Venter
Con: Smith
Pens: Smith 2
For Benetton:
Tries: Smith, Marin 2
Con: Albornoz
Pen: Umaga, Albornoz
DG: Albornoz
Yellow card: Kelly Mpeku (Lions, 68′ – cynical play, deliberate knock-on)
Teams:
Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Kelly Mpeku, 13 Erich Cronje, 12 Bronson Mills, 11 Eduan Keyter, 10 Chris Smith, 9 Morne van den Berg, 8 Francke Horn (captain), 7 Ruan Venter, 6 Jarod Cairns, 5 Reinhard Nothnagel, 4 Etienne Oosthuizen, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 Franco Marais, 1 SJ Kotze.
Replacements: 16 Morne Brandon, 17 Edward Davids, 18 RF Schoeman, 19 Darrien Landsberg, 20 Renzo du Plessis, 21 Nico Steyn, 22 Richard Kriel, 23 Gianni Lombard.
Benetton: 15 Rhyno Smith, 14 Louis Lynagh, 13 Tommaso Menoncello, 12 Leonardo Marin, 11 Ignacio Mendy, 10 Jacob Umaga, 9 Andy Uren, 8 Alessandro Izekor, 7 Michele Lamaro (captain), 6 Manuel Zuliani, 5 Eli Snyman, 4 Niccolo Cannone, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Bautista Bernasconi, 1 Thomas Gallo.
Replacements: 16 Nicholas Gasperini, 17 Mirco Spagnolo, 18 Giosue Zilocchi, 19 Federico Ruzza, 20 So’otala Fa’aso’o, 21 Riccardo Favretto, 22 Alessandro Garbisi, 23 Tomas Albornoz.
Referee: Kevin Bralley (France)
Assistant referees: Luc Ramos (France), Flavien Hourquet (France)
TMO: Julien Castaignede (France)
