Lions overwhelm Ospreys with sensational second-half surge

MATCH REPORT: The Lions produced another dominant display at 10bet Ellis Park as they overturned a half-time deficit to beat Ospreys 35-12 in their second Vodacom United Rugby Championship outing of the season on Saturday.

The visitors had led 12-10 at the break after recovering from an early Lions onslaught, but the home side produced a remarkable second-half performance, scoring five tries and shutting Ospreys out completely to secure a convincing victory.

Ospreys started brightly but struggled to make significant inroads, with the Lions’ defence standing firm before Keelan Giles knocked on out wide.

The visitors were handed a huge opportunity when Tom Rogers launched a 60-metre kick downfield and Iestyn Hopkins chased after it, but Erich Cronje just beat him to the grounding as the ball rolled over the tryline.

The Lions’ scrum immediately caused problems, winning penalties from their opening two set pieces. Chris Smith made no mistake, kicking the Lions into an early 3-0 lead.

Ospreys then conceded a soft penalty for being in front of their kicker and Smith kicked to the corner, but the Lions squandered the opportunity when PJ Botha missed his jumper for the second time in the lineout.

Ospreys opted against taking three points after another penalty and went for the corner instead. Efan Daniel tapped and went, but although he was stopped short, the visitors continued to apply pressure.

Their rolling maul, which had proved so effective the previous week, was held up by the Lions, who earned a scrum for their efforts.

The Lions then produced the first try of the match. Ethan Adams made a powerful run and brilliantly kept the ball alive before the hosts spread it wide, with Cronje breaking the tackle of Giles to squeeze over in the corner.

Smith converted from the touchline to put the Lions 10-0 ahead.

Ospreys responded with an excellent score. Scrumhalf Kieran Hardy broke through and linked with Evardi Boshoff, who carried strongly before producing a superb offload for centre partner Williams to score. Edwards converted to make it 10-7.

The visitors continued to press and were rewarded again before half-time.

Morgan Morse did brilliantly to recover possession from a retreating scrum before Sebastian Lombard was penalised for offside. Edwards kicked to the corner, and, after another sustained attack, Daniel powered over from the rolling maul.

Edwards missed the conversion from out wide, but Ospreys went into the break deservedly ahead 12-10 after dominating possession and finishing the half strongly.

The Lions came out firing after the restart and almost immediately regained the lead when Smith chipped cleverly ahead, only for the bounce to deny JC Pretorius a certain-looking try.

The hosts did not have to wait long, however.

After the referee overturned an Ospreys lineout decision following a TMO review, the Lions made the most of the possession with a powerful maul, allowing Botha to crash over and put the hosts back in front.

Another dominant Lions scrum produced a penalty and Smith kicked for the corner. The pressure was beginning to tell as the altitude took its toll on the visitors.

The Lions then extended their lead through another unstoppable rolling maul, with replacement hooker Morne Brandon credited with the try.

Boeta Chamberlain added another after the Lions launched a clever attack from a Smith cross-field kick, with the fullback’s try confirmed following a TMO review.

The Lions led 25-12 and introduced their two returning Springboks, Morne van den Berg and Quan Horn, after an hour. Both immediately added further energy to the home side.

Ospreys’ hopes faded further when Edwards was shown a yellow card for a high tackle close to his own line.

The Lions opted for a scrum and the pressure told again, with Kelly Mpeku crossing in the corner after Smith delivered a perfectly weighted kick.

Smith struggled from the tee, converting only one of the Lions’ tries, but his attacking influence remained significant.

He then broke through and combined with Richard Kriel, who put Mpeku over for his second try to stretch the lead to 35-12.

Ospreys had no answer as the Lions remained firmly on the front foot, repeatedly forcing the visitors into defensive positions.

*To recap all the action, CLICK HERE!

The Welsh side struggled to string together phases and even a late attempt to pin the Lions back ended when Lawson Creighton’s kick rolled over the dead-ball line.

From being deservedly ahead at half-time, Ospreys had been completely overpowered after the break as the Lions produced a five-try second half to seal a convincing home victory.

Player of the match: Francke Horn led from the front and he did it all – running, tackling, stealing – name the role of a loose forward and he did IT with aplomb.

The scorers:

For Lions:
Tries: Cronje, Botha, Brandon, Chamberlain, Mpeku 2
Cons: Smith
Pens: Smith

For Ospreys:
Tries: Williams, Daniel, Moriarty
Cons: D Edwards

Yellow card: Dan Edwards (Ospreys, 60’ high tackle)

Teams:

Lions: 15 Boeta Chamberlain, 14 Kelly Mpeku, 13 Ethan Adams, 12 Richard Kriel, 11 Erich Cronje, 10 Chris Smith, 9 Nico Steyn, 8 Francke Horn (captain), 7 Siba Qoma, 6 JC Pretorius, 5 Ruan Delport, 4 Etienne Oosthuizen, 3 Sebastian Lombard, 2 PJ Botha, 1 Boan Venter
Replacements: 16 Morne Brandon, 17 SJ Kotze, 18 RF Schoeman, 19 Hyron Andrews, 20 Siba Mahashe, 21 Dylan Sjoblom, 22 Morne van den Berg, 23 Quan Horn

Ospreys: 15 Iestyn Hopkins, 14 Tom Rogers, 13 Evardi Boshoff, 12 Keiran Williams, 11 Keelan Giles (co-captain), 10 Dan Edwards, 9 Kieran Hardy, 8 Morgan Morse, 7 Harri Deaves, 6 Liam Wright (co-captain), 5 Ryan Smith, 4 Huw Sutton, 3 Rhys Henry, 2 Efan Daniel, 1 Gareth Thomas
Replacements: 16 Lewis Lloyd, 17 Cam Jones, 18 Ben Warren, 19 Rhys Davies, 20 Ross Moriarty, 21 Reuben Morgan-Williams, 22 Lawson Creighton, 23 Luke Morgan

Referee: Fillipo Russo (Italy)
Assistant referees: Griffin Colby (South Africa) & Dylen November (South Africa)
TMO: Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)