Lions give Odendaal a fitting Ellis Park farewell
REPORT: It was a perfect Johannesburg send-off for captain Burger Odendaal as Lions recorded a 37-29 win over Benetton at Ellis Park on Saturday.
The match was Odendaal’s final match in front of his home ground at Ellis Park in Johannesburg.
The centre joined the Lions in 2020 from the Bulls.
He capped off his two-year tenure at Ellis Park with incredible performance – creating two tries, and making a couple of lethal carries and crucial tackles.
Odendaal is set to join Premiership club Wasps next season.
*To recap all the action CLICK HERE!!
The Lions had a very slow start trailing 15-22 at the break.
However, four tries in 20 minutes shook the visitors as the Lions accelerated in the second half and grabbed their seventh victory of the season.
The hosts dominated territory and possession in the first half, but over-eagerness on attack cost them dearly. They had the Italians at sixes and sevens a number of times, but unfortunately failed to capitalise.
Ruben Schoeman (lock) went over from an attacking lineout after a good break by Francke Horn in the 14th minute, and added to an earlier penalty goal by Hendrikse, the hosts took an 8-0 lead.
It was short-lived though, as Benetton scored 22 points without answer with the men from Johannesburg looking flat-footed.
Tomas Albornoz (flyhalf) got them on the board with a well-taken drop-goal in the 17th minute, after which the Italians finished all three of their try-scoring opportunities in the final 15 minutes of the first half by playing with confidence and building momentum by dominating the collisions.
Smith crossed twice and also slotted two conversions, while centre Filippo Drago also got a five-pointer with Hendrikse in the sin-bin for cynical play.
The Lions snuck in a second try on the stroke of half-time when Morne van den Berg (scrumhalf) went over from a quick-tap penalty, with Hendrikse’s conversion closing the gap to seven points at the break at 22-15.
A superb try from the restart by Edwill van der Merwe, who combined very well with his captain, Burger Odendaal, ensured the Lions started the second half with good momentum. Hendrikse’s conversion levelled the scores with 39 minutes to go.
Benetton’s discipline started slipping, and after Manuel Zuliani (flank) was yellow carded, the Lions struck with two more tries, by Stean Pienaar (wing) and Hendrikse, to take control of the match.
Hendrikse added another penalty goal after which the game stalled a bit, but in the end, the Lions managed to keep their visitors scoreless for almost the entire second half before Lorenzo Cannone (No 8) got a consolation try for Benetton in injury time.
Man of the match: Vincent Tshituka was again one of the standout performers, while the halfback pairing of Jordan Hendrikse and Morne van den Berg were also in fine form. However, our nod goes to Lions centre Burger Odendaal, who led his team really well and made some lethal runs which helped his side gain momentum.
The scorers:
For Lions:
Tries: Schoeman, Van den Berg, Van der Merwe, Pienaar, Hendrikse
Cons: Hendrikse 3
Pens: Hendrikse 2
For Benetton
Tries: Smith 2, Drago, Cannone
Cons: Smith 3
Drop Goal: Albornoz
Yellow cards: Jordan Hendrikse (Lions, 25 – High tackle); Manuel Zuliani (Benetton, 51 – Dangerous tip tackle)
Teams:
Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Stean Pienaar, 13 Wandisile Simelane, 12 Burger Odendaal (captain), 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Jordan Hendrikse, 9 Morne van den Berg, 8 Emmanuel Tshituka, 7 Vincent Tshituka, 6 Francke Horn, 5 Reinhard Nothnagel, 4 Ruben Schoeman, 3 Carlu Sadie, 2 Pieter Botha, 1 Jean-Pierre Smith.
Replacements: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 Sithembiso Sithole, 18 Ruan Dreyer, 19 Ruan Venter, 20 Sibusiso Sangweni, 21 Andre Warner, 22 Manuel Rass, 23 Tiaan Swanepoel.
Benetton: 15 Rhyno Smith, 14 Edoardo Padovani, 13 Tommaso Menoncello, 12 Filippo Drago, 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Tomas Albornoz, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage (captain), 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Manuel Zuliani, 6 Giovanni Pettinelli, 5 Carl Wegner, 4 Irnè Herbst, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Giacomo Nicotera, 1 Thomas Gallo.
Replacements: 16 Hame Faiva, 17 Ivan Nemer, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Federico Ruzza, 20 Matteo Meggiato, 21 Alessandro Garbisi, 22 Leonardo Marin, 23 Andries Coetzee
Referee: Andy Brace (Ireland)
Assistant referees: AJ Jacobs (South Africa) & Griffin Colby (South Africa)
TMO: Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)
