Lions find their mojo against Jaguares
SUPER RGBY REPORT: The Lions put in an improved performance to beat the Jaguares 47-39 win at Ellis Park on Saturday.
Swys de Bruin’s side ran in seven tries in the victory, while the Jaguares found the tryline six times, three of which were scored in the final ten minutes of the game.
It was the Lions second win of the season after beating the Jaguares’ 25-16 in Buenos Aires in Round one.
The Lions’ forward pack made their presence felt in the opening minutes by pummelling the Jaguares at scrum time. The home side was also intent on mauling in good positions on the field which came to nothing
However, after sustained pressure inside the Jaguares’ 22 the Lions eventually found a way through when Elton Jantjies’ neat offload put Rhyno Herbst into space to run in for the first try in the 15th minute. Jantjies was successful with the conversion.
The visitors’ first points of the game came in the 19th minute via a Joaquin Diaz Bonilla penalty to reduce the deficit to just four points.
The Lions then stepped it up once again and this time Jantjies was on the receiving end of a nice pass to run in for his team’s second try in the 24th minute, which he converted to make it 14-3.
The Lions were in again three minutes later when some excellent passing put Kwagga Smith into space down the touchline to score a fantastic try.
The Jaguares managed to restore some hope in the 32nd minute when replacement Ramiro Moyano gathered a well-judged cross-kick from Diaz Bonilla before stretching over the tryline to score the try.
However, the Lions punished the Jaguares’ a few minutes later with youngster Wandisile Simelane picking up a loose pass before sprinting downfield to score his team’s fourth try of the game.
It was the Jaguares who would have the final say in the first half when hooker Julian Montoya found his way to the tryline after a powerful driving maul.
At half-time, it was 26-13 in favour of the Lions.
The Jaguares’ needed to be the first to score in the second half to stay in the game.
Instead, it was the Lions who added to their own tally when Marnus Schoeman found his way over the tryline after sustained pressure before Courtnall Skosan scored two tries in four minutes
Skosan’s first came after a great run by Vincent Tshituka and his second was orchestrated by Jantjies with a clever cross-kick
Jantjies converted the tries for a 47-13 scoreline after 51 minutes.
The Jaguares tried to stay in touch with another Montoya try from a driving maul in the 54th minute. They were in again from another maul in the 72nd minute with Gaspar Baldunciel scoring the five-pointer.
The visitors scored another two tries via Matias Moroni and Joaquín Tuculet before the end to add some respectability to the scoreline.
Man of the match: There were a few in the Lions team, but the award goes to Wandisile Simelane who was a constant threat with ball in hand. He scored a great try and had a big hand in another.
The scorers:
For Lions:
Tries: Herbst, Jantjies, Smith, Simelane, Schoeman, Skosan 2
Cons: Jantjies 6
For Jaguares:
Tries: Moyano, Montoya 2, Baldunciel, Moroni, Tuculet
Cons: Diaz Bonilla, Cruz Mallia 2
Pen: Diaz Bonilla
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Teams:
Lions: 15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Sylvian Mahuza, 13 Wandisile Simelane, 12 Franco Naude, 11 Courtnall Skosan, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Ross Cronje, 8 Kwagga Smith, 7 Vincent Tshituka, 6 Marnus Schoeman, 5 Rhyno Herbst, 4 Ruan Vermaak, 3 Carlu Sadie, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Dylan Smith.
Replacements: 16 Pieter Jansen, 17 Nathan McBeth, 18 Frans van Wyk, 19 Stephan Lewies, 20 James Venter, 21 Dillon Smit, 22 Harold Vorster, 23 Gianni Lombard/Tyrone Green.
Jaguares: 15 Joaquín Tuculet (captain), 14 Sebastian Cancelliere, 13 Matias Moroni, 12 Bautista Ezcurra, 11 Emiliano Boffelli, 10 Joaquin Diaz Bonilla, 9 Martin Landajo, 8 Rodrigo Bruni, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 5 Matias Alemanno, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Enrique Pieretto, 2 Julian Montoya, 1 Juan Pablo Zeiss.
Replacements: 16 Gaspar Baldunciel, 17 Santiago Garcia Botta, 18 Santiago Medrano, 19 Tomas Lavanini, 20 Tomas Lezana, 21 Tomas Cubelli, 22 Juan Cruz Mallia, 23 Matias Orlando.
Referee: Rasta Rasivhenge (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Cwengile Jadezweni (South Africa), Griffin Colby (South Africa)
TMO: Willie Vos (South Africa)
