Scarlets defeated as Lions claim back-to-back United Rugby Championship wins
Scarlets suffered a 32-15 United Rugby Championship away defeat to Lions, who made it back-to-back wins at Emirates Airline Park.
A brace from man-of-the-match Emmanuel Tshituka helped the Johannesburg-based outfit clinch a bonus-point success with Rabz Maxwane and Jaco Kriel also crossing over.
It was a fourth-consecutive loss for visiting Scarlets, who grabbed tries from Dan Davis, Tom Rodgers and Sam Lousi but left with nothing to show for their effort.
Jordan Hendrikse had starred in Lions’ win over Dragons last weekend and he did not need long to get into his groove with a penalty sent over successfully in the sixth minute.
Scarlets had barely left their 22 by this point and it was no surprise when the hosts went over for a first try after 12 minutes.
It was Maxwane who produced an outstanding finish on his first start of the campaign but only after a sumptuous offload by Marius Louw, who had been tackled by opposite number Scott Williams.
Lowe’s brilliant pass still left Maxwane with plenty of work to do but the Lions speedster checked inside and out to fool Jonathan Davies and leave plenty of other Scarlets’ players trailing behind as he raced over the try line.
An incredible last-ditch intervention from Lousi prevented further damage when he held up Sanele Nohamba by grabbing the shirt of the home scrum-half, who was a matter of yards from scoring but it was brief respite.
Tshituka powered over from close range with 20 minutes played after an excellent Lions scrum and Hendrikse added the extras on this occasion to make it 15-0.
Slowly but surely Scarlets began to impose themselves on the contest against their Southern Hemisphere opponents and after a try was chalked off for offside, Davis did jot down with eight minutes of the first half remaining.
A smart line-out saw Davis profit from a driving maul but Wales youngster Sam Costelow saw his difficult afternoon continue with another missed kick.
Costelow would also enter the sin-bin before the opening 40 minutes were up and another Hendrikse penalty made it 18-5 at the interval.
Vaea Fifita was forced off for Scarlets following a bang to the face early in the second period before they were denied a try when Ryan Conbeer was held up in the corner after Dane Blacker’s brilliant break.
It was not long before Lions turned the screw again with Darrien Landsberg claiming the line-out and finding the onrushing Kriel to go over for the hosts’ third score in the 55th minute.
Back came the visitors though with Rogers finishing impressively three minutes later to ensure a hard-fought final quarter would occur in South Africa.
A yellow to Hendrikse with 10 minutes to go raised further hope of Scarlets being able to close the gap but it was player of the match Tshituka who saved his best until last.
The number eight barged his way past Conbeer to go over but circled back round to jot down under the posts to leave an easy conversion for replacement Zander Du Plessis.
Scarlets did have the final say on proceedings when Lousi crossed over with the clock in the red but it failed to prevent a fourth-straight URC loss for the Welsh outfit, who stay 15th while Lions are now up to fifth.
Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe 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?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 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
4 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 comments