Cards galore as Lions beat Elephants

MATCH REPORT: Red and yellow cards were at the fore of the Preparations match between EP Elephants and Lions on Wednesday.

The Lions pulled off a 54-24 win over the Elephants in Port Elizabeth.

*As it happened: Elephants v Lions 

Mzwiwakhe Nkosi’s young Lions side were forced to work hard in a match marred by a flurry of red and yellow cards.

For the Lions the encounter was certainly not one of their best performances, however, Nkosi will be pleased with how his team managed to regroup, scoring six tries and two penalties tries.

In contrast for former Springboks coach Peter De Villiers, the match is another disastrous display following their 10-87 defeat to the Bulls.

The EP Elephants managed to score four tries courtesy of Christopher  Hollis,  Zingisa April, Robin Stevens and captain Courtney Winnaar however their ill-discipline and over-eagerness overshadowed their 80 minutes.

The Elephants played a vast majority of the match with 13 men after Arnold Kleyn and CJ Velleman were red-carded.

Kleyn received his marching orders after just two minutes of play. The lock made a silly reckless tackle and made contact with Manuel Rass’ head which met the dangerous high tackle criteria.

CJ Velleman left the field in the second half after he receives his second yellow card.

Lions were not safe from the cards show as Dillon Smith and Mark Snyman were handed yellow cards.

Nonetheless, the Lions had the upper hand throughout the match, the Gauteng sid took a 21-12 lead at the break thanks to a penalty try,  hooker Dameon Venter and Divan Rossouw.

Elephants were the first team on the board in the second stanza.

But a late surge by the Lions eventually stretched their lead to 38-24 and it was clear the home side not only struggled with their discipline but also their fitness.

And with 13 men against 15, three quick tries, in the end, saved the day for the visitors.

Man of the match: For the Lions players like Sibusiso Sangweni and Izan Esterhuizen put in some good work when he took the field. While for Elephants, captain Courtney Winnaar was a light in his side. However, for his work rate and powerful scrums, our nod goes to Lions hooker Dameon Venter

The scorers:

For EP Elephants
Tries: Hollis, April, Stevens, Winnaar
Cons: Asperling 2

For Lions:
Tries: Penalty try 2, Venter, Rossouw, McBeth, Sangweni, Mthenjane, Selengbe
Cons: Swanepoel 2, Hendrickse 3

Yellow cards: Dillon Smith (Lions, 7 – Delibetare foul play), CJ Velleman ( EP Elephants, 11 – Repeat infringements), Mark Snyman (Lions, 59 – Deliberate offside)

Red cards: Arnold Kleyn ( Elephants, 2 – Reckless tackle to the head) CJ Velleman (Elephants, 54 – second yellow card)

Teams

Eastern Province: 15 Courtney Winnaar (captain), 14 Qeutyne Oerson, 13 Athi Mayinje, 12 Sherwin Slater, 11 Christopher Hollis, 10 Karlo Aspeling, 9 Josh Alldermann, 8 Zingisa April, 7 Anele Lungisa, 6 CJ Velleman, 5 Arnold Kleyn, 4 Athenkosi Khetani, 3 Emile Klaassen, 2 Sithembiso Befile, 1 Siya Nzuzo.
Replacements: 16 Robin Stevens, 17 Lyle Lombard, 18 Lupumlo Mgcuca, 19 Mncedisi Dlwengu, 20 Bevin Prinsloo, 21 Diego Williams, 22 Wian van der Sandt, 23 Riaan Arends.

Lions: 15 Divan Rossouw; 14 Prince Nkabinde, 13 Manuel Rass, 12 James Mollentze, 11 Ngia Selengbe; 10 Tiaan Swanepoel, 9 Dillon Smit; 8 Ruhan Straeuli, 7 Sibusiso Sangweni, 6 Mark Snyman, 5 Reinhard Nothnagel (captain), 4 Ruben Schoeman, 3 Wiehahn Herbst, 2 Dameon Venter, 1 Nathan McBeth.
Replacements: Morné Brandon, Banele Mthenjane, Asenathi Nthlabakanye, Mandisi Mtiyane, Izan Esterhuizen, Morné van den Berg, Jordan Hendrikse, Luke Rossouw, Sibusiso Shongwe, Jarod Cairns

Referee: AJ Jacobs
Assistant referees: Phumzile Mbewu, Sean Muller
TMO: Christie du Preez

Picture credit: @LionsRugbyCO