Lions seal dramatic win over Leinster

MATCH REPORT: The Lions produced a sensational finish to launch their Vodacom United Rugby Championship campaign with a dramatic 27-26 victory over defending champions Leinster at Ellis Park on Saturday.

Leinster managed to grab two losing bonus points in the dying moments.

Ivan van Rooyen’s side dominated the scrum, matched Leinster’s attack and produced a clinical finish, with Kelly Mpeku’s late try sealing a memorable win in Johannesburg.

Within the first minute, Lions star center Henco van Wyk left the field after a heavy clash.

In the early stages, Leinster had all the territory (93%) and possession (87%), and they quickly knocked on the front porch.

Their efforts paid off as Fintan Gunne worked his way over after a little show-and-go from the scrumhalf. Caspar Gabriel pulled the conversion horribly, but the Irish were on the scoreboard, leading 5-0 after five minutes.

However, minutes later, from the kickoff, Erich Cronje darted over following a strong Lions scrum. Chris Smith converted, and the hosts were in the lead for the first time. The Lions piled pressure on Leinster’s young side, consistently getting over the gainline before forcing a penalty, which Smith calmly slotted for three more points.

It was a point a minute as Leinster hit back, took it flat with a beautiful break by Josh Ericson, who then popped to Gunne for his second try of the day. Van Wyk returned to the pitch following Caspar Gabriel’s successful conversion. Leinster’s backs then produced a moment of attacking brilliance, with Tommy O’Brien sprinting for the corner but just running out of space before he could ground the ball.

From a solid set piece, Van Wyk built steam, handed off the perfect pass and Cronje was in for his second, converted by Smith. The Lions took the lead by 17-12 after just under 30 minutes of play. A high tackle by Batho Hlekani offered up another three points to the visitors, but Gabriel pulled it.

Leinster found themselves inside the Lions’ 22 again, and O’Brien was racing towards the tryline, but the cross cover was there to save it. A 50/22 by Charlie Tector sent play back upfield, and Gunne grabbed his third try just before halftime.

Following the conversion, Leinster was back in front by 19-17 as the teams headed for a breather. The Lions matched Leinster in attack, dominated the scrum and produced a strong kicking game. However, they had a few soft moments in defence, and Leinster were clinical in making the most of those opportunities.

The second half started a bit scrappy and up until the 60th minute, not a single point had been scored by either side. Then the Lions started to clamp down on the visitors as Francke Horn raced through; the ball was dribbled a few times, and under pressure, two kicks by Leinster were charged down by the hosts to set up camp 10 metres out.

Erich Cronje was all over the park to chase down the Lions’ high ball and won the penalty for holding and Smith made no mistake as his side claimed the lead again. Against the run of play, Leinster won a crucial scrum penalty, giving them valuable relief and a chance to regain the momentum.

With ten minutes left, Van Wyk made a vital turnover, and Smith sent it clear of the touchline. The Lions bungled a few opportunities to score and were left to defend as Leinster’s 14 men launched a strong attack after Dylan McNeice was sent to the sin bin for not retreating. With three minutes left, the Lions drove forward and had to keep possession. Hlekani went for the line, so did Horn.

Then the ball was flung out wide for Kelly Mpeku to score in the far corner. Smith converted to clinch the Lions’ first outing in the new URC season over the defending champions.

Leinster never stopped playing, even after the hooter. In the 84th minute SJ Kotze got his marching orders for a high tackle. Then the visitors, five metres out, opted for a tap-and-go and secured two losing bonus points after Stephen Smyth scored from close range.

Player of the Match: Siba Mahashe had a good outing for the winning side, as did Nico Steyn. On Leinster’s side no one would argue that the young Fintan Gunne was the star performer for his side with his hat trick of tries. However, our vote goes to Lions centre Erich Cronje who couldn’t do much wrong and was always a threat.

The scorers:

For Lions:
Tries: Cronje 2, Mpeku
Cons: Smith 3
Pens: Smith 2

For Leinster:
Tries: Gunne 3
Cons: Gabriel 2

Teams

Lions: 15 Boeta Chamberlain, 14 Kelly Mpeku, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Richard Kriel, 11 Erich Cronje, 10 Chris Smith, 9 Nico Steyn, 8 Francke Horn (captain), 7 Batho Hlekani, 6 Siba Mahashe, 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 JC Pretorius, 21 Siba Qoma, 22 Zian Cilliers, 23 Ethan Adam

Leinster: 15 Todd Lawlor, 14 Tommy O’Brien, 13 Hugh Cooney, 12 Charlie Tector, 11 Andrew Osborne, 10 Caspar Gabriel, 9 Fintan Gunne, 8 Josh Ericson, 7 Scott Penny, 6 Max Deegan (c), 5 Conor O’Tighearnaigh, 4 Ryan Baird, 3 Andrew Porter, 2 Gus McCarthy, 1 Alex Usanov
Replacements: 16 Stephen Smyth, 17 Peter Dooley, 18 Niall Smyth, 19 Brian Deeney, 20 Dylan McNeice, 21 Oliver Coffey, 22 Harry Byrne, 23 Ciarán Mangan

Referee: Ben Breakspear (WRU, 21st league game)
Assistant referees: Hanru van Rooyen (SARU) and Jonathan Lottering (SARU)
TMO: Craig Evans (WRU)