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Munster and Edinburgh handed brutal thrashings in South Africa
By PA
The Lions ran in eight tries in a 54-17 victory over Edinburgh in the United Rugby Championship.
The Scottish side did not get on the board in Johannesburg until the second half, when they scored three tries with the contest long since over.
Ruan Venter was the first to cross for the hosts in the sixth minute, and Francke Horn crashed over for their second 13 minutes later.
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By half-time, they had added three further scores through Darrien Landsberg, Morne van den Berg and Bronson Mills, with Chris Smith converting all five.
Edinburgh finally registered their first points four minutes into the second period thanks to a Ewan Ashman try after Horn was sin-binned but Angelo Davids scored twice to sandwich a try from Freddy Douglas for the visitors.
Matt Currie sprinted across the line for Edinburgh’s third in the 72nd minute but it was fitting that the rampant Lions had the final word as Hasseim Pead wrapped up the scoring.
Meanwhile, Benetton winger Onisi Ratave was the standout as the Italian side secured a comfortable 31-19 United Rugby Championship victory over 14-man Ospreys.
The Fijian scored two of five tries for hosts Benetton, who also benefitted from a try and three conversions from Jacob Umaga.
Siua Maile opened the scoring for Benetton four minutes in the contest, and it was 14-5 for the hosts at the halfway point after Keiran Williams powered in a first try for the visitors before Ignacio Mendy added a second for the Italians.
Williams touched down three minutes into the second half, with Jack Walsh adding the extras, before Ratave responded with two more for Benetton, and Ospreys were left short-handed when Ross Moriarty was sent off for a dangerous clear-out in the 64th minute.
Umaga then converted his own try to make it 31-12, and it was the visitors who briefly held the man advantage after Scott Scrafton and Malakai Fekitoa were sent to the sin bin in the final 10 minutes.
Luke Davies narrowed the deficit with a last-gasp try, converted again by Walsh, but it was too late to stage a comeback.
Elsewhere Munster crashed to a 45-0 defeat against the Sharks in the United Rugby Championship at Kings Park Stadium to leave themselves in a battle to secure a top-eight finish.
The visitors trailed 12-0 at half-time after struggling in humid conditions against a dominant Sharks scrum, going behind when Phendulani Buthelezi grounded the ball following a well-executed maul, with Jordan Hendrikse adding the extras.
Sharks added a second try jut before the half-hour mark when Luan Giliomee went over.
Andre Esterhuizen burst through the defence with a strong run helping to release Yaw Penxe who offloaded to Giliomee to go over for a try on his debut.
Munster, who face three of their remaining five regular-season fixtures away from home, collapsed after the break, Phatu Ganyane powering over for a third score, before Emile Van Heerden increased the lead.
Springboks star Makazole Mapimpi scored a brace while Le Roux Malan also got on the scoresheet as Sharks added three more tries in the final four minutes.
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