Lions roar past Connacht to record URC milestone

MATCH REPORT: The Lions gave an almighty roar as they demolished Connacht 33-21 in Round 16 of the United Rugby Championship at Ellis Park on Saturday.

With this victory, the Lions won more victories in the URC than they have ever won before.

The Lions immediately got to work stamping their authority on the game early.

And it paid off as Angelo Davids got over in the fourth minute after SJ Kotze had a great run through the middle. The ball was spread wide with quick efficiency, and Davids had no defender to beat out wide.

From there, both sides played a territorial game, looking for opportunities to attack when possible. A spell of end-to-end kicking from both teams brought play back towards the halfway line, with the Lions earning the feed at the scrum as they looked to launch another well-executed move to break down the Connacht defensive line.

Connacht were starting to build phases, and passes were starting to stick, but the Lions showed patience, opting to turn possession and attack from anywhere.

A slick midfield move saw Henco van Wyk combine power and pace to cap off a superb, world-class Lions try.

The hosts then produced another outstanding defensive set, forcing a Connacht knock-on and earning a scrum feed on their own 10-metre line.

For a period, Connacht was teetering on the fringe, in the red zone, but the Lions stood firm, forcing the opposition backwards and shutting any opportunities.

Connacht were desperate to get on the scoreboard before halftime as the clock was winding down the first half.

Four minutes to the halftime whistle, Connacht nearly got over, but the Lions’ defence was rock solid.

Morne van den Berg fed the scrum on their own five metres, Smith kicked for clearance and Connacht attacked, but lost the ball once again in contact.

It was the Lions who got another five-pointer. Rookie Siba Mahashe found himself at wing and scored in the corner.

Halftime saw the hosts comfortably ahead 21-0.

In honesty, the first belied the efforts the Irish had put in in the first half. But they were denied any points.

The Lions continued where they left off in the first half and it was one of their stars, Erich Cronje, who grabbed the first try of the second half, scoring the Lions’ fourth and securing the bonus point.

Kotze got his marching orders after head contact as he went in for a tackle, leaving the Lions to defend in their 22 without a prop forward.

It proved a stretch too far as they couldn’t stop a driving maul and John Devine was the player who managed to get over. Jack Carty converted.

With half-an-hour to go, it was still a long road for the visitors, trailing 7-28.

A clearance by the hosts failed to find distance, handing the Lions another attacking opportunity inside Connacht’s 22.

But another unforced error halted their momentum and Connacht were handed a scrum feed on their own try line.

Handling by the Lions was exceptional between forwards and backs as they tried to get over the advantage line.

But Cian Prendergast got the turnover on the ground, and they could clear to get out of their 22.

A brilliant kick by Devine drove the Lions back beyond the 10m line.

A line-out on the halfway mark saw the Lions launch another attack. Hlekani took the ball up, Connacht was offside and Smith calmed things down with a touchfinder in the corner.

Morne Brandon fed the line-out, Van den Berg directed traffic, there were a few short pop passes and finally Henco van Wyk grabbed the fifth try of the day, taking their lead to 33-7.

Connacht were desperate to get another try. The Lions were having none of it.

Pretoria-born Shayne Bolton got over in the corner, but a TMO review spotted a knock-on.

Connacht never gave up trying, and they were rewarded through the efforts of Devine once more.

Could they score two more tries in three minutes?

They gave it an almighty effort, kicking into the corner with seconds to go.

A maul ensued, and a long pass out wide was too long.

They grabbed their third after the hooter went.

Player of the Match: Quan Horn never puts a foot wrong. Once again, he was immense on attack and defence. A vital cog in the Lions set-up and a pillar of strength for his team.

The scorers:

For Lions:
Tries: Davids, Van Wyk 2, Mahashe, Cronje
Cons: Smith 5

For Connacht:
Tries: Devine 2, Boyle
Cons: Naughton, Gilbert 2

Yellow card: SJ Kotze (for Lions, 46’ head contact)

Teams:

Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Angelo Davids, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Richard Kriel, 11 Erich Cronje, 10 Chris Smith, 9 Morné van den Berg, 8 Francke Horn (captain), 7 Batho Hlekani, 6 Siba Mahashe, 5 Darrien Landsberg, 4 Ruan Venter, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 PJ Botha, 1 SJ Kotze
Replacements: 16 Morné Brandon, 17 Edward Davids, 18 Sebastian Lombard, 19 Reinhard Nothnagel, 20 Siba Qoma, 21 JC Pretorius, 22 Nico Steyn, 23 Kelly Mpeku

Connacht: 15 Sam Gilbert, 14 Harry West, 13 John Devine, 12 Hugh Gavin, 11 Shane Jennings, 10 Jack Carty, 9 Colm Reilly, 8 Paul Boyle, 7 Shamus Hurley-Langton, 6 Cian Prendergast (captain), 5 Joe Joyce, 4 Niall Murray, 3 Jack Aungier, 2 Dylan Tierney-Martin, 1 Peter Dooley
Replacements: 16 Matthew Victory, 17 Billy Bohan, 18 Fiachna Barrett, 19 Darragh Murray, 20 Sean Jansen, 21 Matthew Devine, 22 Sean Naughton, 23 Shayne Bolton

Referee: Filippo Russo (Italy)
Assistant referees: Hanru van Rooyen (South Africa), Jonathan Lottering (South Africa)
TMO: Federico Vedovelli (Italy)