Scarlets humble Lions for maiden win in SA

REPORT: The Scarlets kicked off their South African tour with a famous 32-19 win over the Lions on Sunday.

The United Rugby Championship Round 17 victory was the Welsh team’s first win on South African soil.

*To recap all the action CLICK HERE!!!

The result propels the Scarlets into the play-off zones, sitting comfortably in sixth place on the table with 48 points.

For the Lions, it’s a case of ‘back to the drawing board’ after a very up-and-down season.

Heading into the match, the Lions had very little to play for, as their play-off hopes ended on Saturday when Benetton recorded a rare win over defending champions Glasgow Warriors.

Benetton are level on 46 points with Munster and Cardiff in positions seventh to ninth –  meaning the Lions, who are still on 35 points and 13th on the log, won’t be able to catch those teams even if they secure maximum points against Ospreys next week.

It was certainly not a fun Sunday for the team from Jozi, who were forced into a late change ahead of kick-off. Standout centre Henco van Wyk was ruled out of the match due to illness. He was replaced by Rynhardt Jonker, with Kelly Mpeku on the bench.

The change proved detrimental as the attack was far from clinical, and Ivan van Rooyen’s men struggled in defence as well.

A positive was certainly Richard Kriel’s brace of tries, while Nico Steyn was the other try-scorer.

Scarlets scored four tries courtesy of Taine Plumtree, Johnny Williams, and a double by fullback Blair Murray.

Sam Costelow was solid from the tee, adding 14 points to his team’s tally — two conversions, a penalty, and a drop goal.

Quan Horn got the game underway at Ellis Park on Sunday.

The opening minutes were very static, and in the sixth minute, the Scarlets went down to 14 men after Sam Lousi was handed a yellow card for an illegal tackle on Morgan Naudé.

The Lions created a try-scoring opportunity, but a turnover by hooker Marnus van der Merwe halted all their efforts.

The visitors were the first to draw blood. At the back of a line-out, they won multiple penalties inside the Lions’ five before Murray beat a defender for the first of his two tries.

Sam Costelow added the conversion for the 7-0 lead.

JC Pretorius went over the try-line. However, the Scarlets were resilient in defence and managed to hold up the industrious flank.

Unlike the Lions, the Scarlets found gaps in the hosts’ defence and scored their second try when Murray dotted down after a good line break. Murray bagged his brace of tries. It was 14-0 after 29 minutes.

The Lions finally broke the deadlock in the 32nd minute as Nico Steyn powered over the tryline. Kade Wolhuter made sure to add the extra two for the full 7 points.

Scarlets were again left to fend with 14 men, but that did not deter them as Costelow, who extended his contract with the Welsh side, added a drop goal to his team’s tally for the 17-7 lead at the break.

Scarlets extended their lead in teh second stanza as they got over the gainline with ease, before Taine Plumtree stretched over for the third five-pointer. Costelow again successful with a conversion, 22-7.

The next score belonged to the Lions. From the back of a successful scrum, a well-executed play was rounded off by Kriel. Lubabalo Dobela took over the kicking duties and added the conversion, narrowing the deficit to eight points.

The hosts found themselves a man short after JC Pretorius was yellow-carded.

But despite being a man down, the Lions got themselves back in the contest. Instigated by a line break from Edwill van der Merwe, the hosts quickly recycled the ball before Kriel added his second try. Dobela pulled his kick wide.

With only three points separating the teams, both sides were eager to score.

However, it was centre Williams who got his name on the scoreboard. The centre received an offload and beat a defender for the five-pointer and his team’s bonus-point try, 29-19.

The visitors added the final blow with a penalty to secure their first win in South Africa.

The Lions will host the Ospreys in the final league match, while the Scarlets head to Durban to take on the Sharks.

The scorers:

For Lions:
Tries: Steyn, Kriel 2
Cons: Wolhuter, Dobela

For Scarlets:
Tries: Murray 2, Plumtree, Williams
Cons: Costelow 4
Pen: Costelow
Drop Goal: Constelow

Yellow cards: Sam Lousi (Scarlets, 5 – dangerous tackle), Dan Davis (Scarlets, 32 – repeated infringements), JC Pretorius (Lions, 54 – deliberate collapsing the maul)

Teams:

Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Richard Kriel, 13 Rynhardt Jonker, 12 Bronson Mills, 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Kade Wolhuter, 9 Nico Steyn, 8 Jarod Cairns, 7 Renzo du Plessis, 6 JC Pretorius, 5 Ruan Delport, 4 Ruan Venter, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 Jaco Visagie (captain), 1 Morgan Naude.
Replacements: 16 PJ Botha, 17 SJ Kotze, 18 RF Schoeman, 19 Darrien Landsberg, 20 Sibabalo Qoma, 21 Layton Horn, 22 Lubabalo Dobela, 23 Kelly Mpeku .

Scarlets: 15 Blair Murray, 14 Tom Rogers, 13 Joe Roberts, 12 Johnny Williams, 11 Ellis Mee, 10 Sam Costelow, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Taine Plumtree, 7 Josh Macleod (captain), 6 Vaea Fifita, 5 Sam Lousi, 4 Alex Craig, 3 Henry Thomas, 2 Marnus van der Merwe, 1 Alec Hepburn.
Replacements: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Kemsley Mathias, 18 Sam Wainwright, 19 Dan Davis, 20 Jarrod Taylor, 21 Archie Hughes, 22 Ioan Lloyd, 23 Macs Page

Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Griffin Colby (South Africa), Stephan Geldenhuys (South Africa)
TMO: Eoghan Cross (Ireland)

Picture credit: Lions