Lions sink plucky Dragons

MATCH REPORT: The Lions put the hammer down in the second half to defeat the Dragons by 42-26 in Round 14 of the United Rugby Championship.

The result temporarily placed the Lions in fourth position before Ulster pushed them out with a win over Zebre in Parma.

There would’ve been some nerves for the Lions management at the break, being only four points up.

The Dragons fought hard but ultimately ran out of steam as the Lions outscored the men from Gwent by six tries to four.

*To recap all the action, CLICK HERE!

The Lions opened their account off a counter-attacking play five minutes into the game through Siba Mahashe, who defeated several defenders to dot down.

Mahashe doubled the good work moments later to deny the Dragons a try by holding Thomas Young up over the line.

The Dragons struck back in the 14th minute through centre Aneurin Owen to level matters before Angus O’ Brien’s conversion put the visitors in the lead.

Centre Bronson Mills went off with a suspected knee injury in the 15th minute, which will be a big concern for Ivan van Rooyen.

Chris Smith’s 17th-minute penalty reclaimed the lead for the Lions by a solitary point.

The Lions bagged their second try through Richard Kriel in the 26th minute off a turnover inside the Dragons’ half, which originated from a grubber kick by Quan Horn. Smith added the extras.

The Dragons closed the gap through Owen’s brace off a simple line-out move in the 32nd minute as O’Brien added the extras.

Smith slotted his second penalty of the afternoon a minute before half-time to stretch the lead to four points.

The Lions won a scrum penalty on a Dragons feed with the clock in the red and had one more roll of the dice, opting for the line-out, but couldn’t capitalise on the opportunity as Nico Steyn was penalised for holding on five metres from the line.

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Break made. Ball in hand.🏉

Mahashe steps through. ⚡🦁@Vodacom #URC | #LIOvDRA pic.twitter.com/DTyjHsrYLP

— Vodacom United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial_RSA) March 28, 2026

The Dragons drew first blood in the second half when Rio Dyer went over in the corner off an O’Brien crossfield kick to reclaim the lead once more. O’Brien slotted the conversion.

The Lions hit straight back through Smith, who dotted down in the 49th minute, which he converted himself, whilst the Dragons received a team warning for repeatedly being offside in the red zone.

Steyn secured the bonus point try in the 55th minute for the Lions off an offload by Francke Horn in contact.

To add insult to injury for the Dragons, Rio Dyer was sent to the sinbin for the earlier offside team warning.

The Lions put extra daylight on the scoreboard when Steyn grabbed a brace running a good line on the blindside off a line-out maul in the 62nd minute. Smith’s conversion was successful.

Erich Cronje stretched the lead with his 67th-minute try in the corner, beating two defenders in the process.

Dyer made up for his earlier indiscretion and bagged a brace, and the bonus point try for the Dragons with 10 minutes of play left, which was the final scoring of the match.

Player of the match: Siba Mahashe was everywhere on the pitch and scored a stunner of an individual try. He made seven tackles, including one dominant tackle.

Scorers

For the Lions:
Tries: Mahashe, Kriel, Smith, Steyn 2, Cronje
Cons: Smith 3
Pens: Smith 2

For the Dragons:
Tries: Owen 2, Dyer 2
Cons: O’Brien 3

Yellow card: Rio Dyer (Dragons, 55′- Repeated team infringement: offside in the red zone)

Teams:

Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Angelo Davids, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Bronson Mills, 11 Erich Cronje, 10 Chris Smith, 9 Nico Steyn, 8 Francke Horn (captain), 7 Ruan Venter, 6 Siba Mahashe, 5 Reinhard Nothnagel, 4 Etienne Oosthuizen, 3 RF Schoeman, 2 PJ Botha, 1 SJ Kotze
Replacements: 16 Morne Brandon, 17 Eddi Eddie Davids, 18 Sebastian Lombard, 19 Ruan Delport, 20 Batho Hlekani, 21 Renzo du Plessis, 22 Haashim Pead, 23 Richard Kriel

Dragons: 15 Cai Evans, 14 Jared Rosser, 13 Fine Inisi, 12 Aneurin Owen, 11 Rio Dyer, 10 Angus O’Brien (co-captain), 9 Niall Armstrong, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Thomas Young, 6 Ryan Woodman, 5 Ben Carter, 4 Seb Davies, 3 Chris Coleman, 2 Brodie Coghlan, 1 Rodrigo Martinez.
Replacements: 16 Elliot Dee, 17 Jordan Morris, 18 Owain James, 19 Levi Douglas, 20 Harrison Keddie, 21 Rhodri Williams, 22 Jac Lloyd, 23 Fetuli Paea.

Referee: Robbie Jenkinson (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Hanru van Rooyen (South Africa), Stephen Geldenhuys (South Africa)
TMO: Andrew Brace (Ireland)