Lions player ratings vs Leinster | 2025/26 URC quarter-finals

Lions player ratings: The Lions arrived in Dublin hoping to avenge the heavy defeat they suffered against Leinster during the regular season.

Instead they suffered an even more painful evening.

There were fleeting moments of promise and a handful of individual performances that deserved better support, but once Leinster established control the visitors looked increasingly deflated.

By the final quarter there was a sense they had never really got off the bus, with Leinster running away to a one-sided 59-10 victory.

15. Quan Horn – 5.5
Started reasonably well with a nice early touchfinder and handled some difficult situations. The yellow card on 53 minutes effectively summed up a difficult second half.

14. Angelo Davids – 4
A rough night. Missed tackles mounted alarmingly early and he never looked comfortable under the high ball. Gus McCarthy’s try came through another weak defensive effort.

13. Henco van Wyk – 8
Probably the Lions’ standout performer. Took his first try well from close range and his second was created by a superb individual break. Sadly picked up an injury while scoring. One of the few players who consistently looked capable of troubling Leinster.

12. Richard Kriel – 5.5
Made a nice early break and later produced another dangerous dart and chip ahead late on. Unfortunately faded badly as Leinster tightened their grip.

11. Erich Cronje – 6
Forced into an early HIA disruption but recovered well enough. Produced a powerful carry and generally did what he could in difficult circumstances.

10. Chris Smith – 4.5
A pretty meh evening. Kicking radar malfunctioned at key moments, including one kick straight into touch. Lost multiple turnovers and his pass after Deegan’s huge hit was picked off by Prendergast for the decisive score.

9. Nico Steyn – 7
One of the brighter Lions performers. Probed around the edges and kept Leinster’s pillar defence honest. Service was generally good despite the scoreboard.

1. SJ Kotze – 7
Part of a front-row that occasionally put genuine pressure on Leinster. Did his job well before departing.

2. PJ Botha – 6
Lineout throwing was a lottery at times and the set-piece deteriorated badly as the game wore on. Left the field battered and bruised.

3. Sebastian Lombard – 7
One of the better Lions forwards. Caused Porter some problems and helped generate periods of scrum pressure.

4. Reinhard Nothnagel – 5
An untidy evening. The big man fumbled one promising lineout and never imposed himself consistently.

5. Darrien Landsberg – 6.5
Led the Lions defensive effort through sheer volume of work. Also had his own lineout mishap but never stopped tackling.

6. Siba Mahashe – 5.5
Looked threatening early with ball in hand but gradually disappeared from proceedings as Leinster’s back-row took over.

7. Bathobele Hlekani – 6
His huge frame caused problems initially and he offered a useful lineout option. However, he fell off too many tackles and couldn’t sustain his early influence. Needs to do better if he wants to threaten a Bok jersey.

8. Francke Horn – 5.5
Worked hard to little effect, even if he produced some nice touches, but ultimately couldn’t stop Leinster rolling forward. A damp end to a good season for him personally.

Replacements – 5
JC Pretorius brought up his 50th Lions cap but there was little impact from the bench overall. The lineout became borderline shambolic as the match wore on and none of the replacements were able to halt the collapse. By the final quarter the Lions looked completely deflated and Leinster were playing with them at times. A night to forget.