Lions make gains on conference rivals in less than successful week for South African sides
On a weekend when their South African Conference rivals – the Bulls, Sharks and Jaguares – all failed to win, it was the Lions who managed to register a vital victory, which allowed them to move away from the foot of the table into fourth place, above the Stormers, who were not in action this weekend.
The Lions survived some anxious moments late in their Super Rugby match against the Waratahs but managed to hold on for a close, hard-fought 29-28 win in Johannesburg on Saturday afternoon. Both teams scored four tries at Emirates Airline Park.
The opening half was a fast, open affair with several missed tackles which led to three tries by both sides. The Waratahs converted all three of their tries which saw them go into halftime with a two-point advantage at 21-19.
The teams scored one try piece in the second half but it was a successful penalty goal by the Lions’ replacement back Shaun Reynolds that finally secured victory.
NSW scrumhalf Nick Phipps opened the scoring for the visitors and he was followed by Michael Hooper and Rob Simmons, with Bernard Foley slotting all three conversion kicks. Springbok wing Aphiwe Dyantyi grabbed the home team’s first try, while Stephan Lewies and Kwagga Smith also went over for two more home tries.
After the break, Springbok wing Courtnall Skosan scored from a sweeping move while Tom Staniforth crashed over for the Waratahs’ fourth try of the afternoon.
Saturday’s victory saw them move to fourth place on the local log with 26 points from 11 games and six wins. The Lions host the Highlanders next Saturday while the Waratahs now travel to Brisbane for their Australian derby with the Reds.
Earlier, the Crusaders were in impressive form when they dismantled the Bulls with a 45-13 triumph in their clash at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Friday evening.
The defending champions scored four tries in the first half to lead by 26-6 at the break, and proceeded to score three more in the second half for a commanding victory. Crusaders flyhalf Richie Mo’unga gave a lively performance for the visitors while their speedy right wing Sevu Reece helped himself to a hat-trick of tries.
The first half was a fast and frantic affair and it was the Crusaders who made their intentions clear right from the start by speeding up play and not allowing the home side any time to settle. They used quick lineout throws to unsettle the home side and clever kick passes to stretch the defence, while their finishing was also clinical.
The Bulls would not have been satisfied by this performance, on the eve of their four-match Australasian tour.
A fortunate bounce of the ball – which looped over the head of Handre Pollard – allowed Mo’unga to run in for the first of two tries. He was followed over the line by Mitchell Dunshea (lock), who scored his maiden Super Rugby try, and Reece.
The home team replied with two Pollard penalty goals in an otherwise forgettable opening 40 minutes, which left them with a mountain to climb against the rampaging Crusaders.
Reece opened the scoring in the second half for his second try and to put his side in an even bigger commanding lead. The right wing scored a third one just after the hour mark when he jumped high into the air to collect another clever cross field kick to score try number six for the visitors.
All Blacks lock Scott Barrett completed the scoring for the visitors when he finished off a clever lineout move. Midfielder Burger Odendaal scored a consolation try for the Bulls, who simply made too many errors and missed too many tackles.
Meanwhile, the Sharks gave another impressive performance on the road but they unfortunately went down 29-23 to the Chiefs in Hamilton on Saturday morning (SA time) in their last Super Rugby tour match through Australasia.
It was an entertaining fixture between two evenly matched teams, with the men from Waikato taking a 17-13 lead into the break through two tries and a penalty goal. The Chiefs eventually scored four tries, three conversions and a penalty goal, while the Durbanites replied with two converted tries and three penalty goals.
The Sharks did extremely well to play themselves back into a potential winning position and led 23-17 with just under 20 minutes to go – the result of good defence, powerful forward surges and good tactical kicking from Curwin Bosch.
However, two quick tries in the last 13 minutes tilted the momentum and scoreboard in favour of the Kiwis. Chiefs midfielder Anton Leonard-Brown dotted down before halfback and interim-captain Brad Weber scored another try straight from the restart.
The Chiefs led 29-23 going into the final few minutes, but the Sharks turned over possession deep inside their own half, and in a tense finish, the visitors forced the men from Waikato to defend for 18 phases before Bosch made an unfortunate handling error after the fulltimee hooter.
The Sharks can be very pleased with the overall outcome of their three-match tour which started with a win over the Waratahs in Sydney and a draw against the Crusaders in Christchurch. They now return to Durban for a well-earned break next weekend and then resume action when they host the Lions on 25 May in another big local derby.
The South African conference continues to be highly contested – is one team ready to take control heading into the final weeks of the competition?
Comments on RugbyPass
The Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
3 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to comments