JOHANNESBURG – The Lions defeated Edinburgh 54-17 in their United Rugby Championship clash at Ellis Park on Saturday, scoring eight tries to two.
The Lions made a late change before kick-off, with Etienne Oosthuizen withdrawing. Ruan Venter moved to lock with Batho Hlekani starting at flank, and Sibabalo Qoma was named on the bench.
Edinburgh controlled much of the possession in the opening five minutes, working through phases in the Lions’ half. The home side’s defence held firm, allowing them to turn the ball over and launch a long-range attack from deep in their half.
Venter finished the move under the poles, with Chris Smith converting for a 7-0 lead.
Francke Horn extended the Lions’ lead to 14-0 when he scored following a maul move from an attacking lineout in the 19th minute.
A third try followed a minute later as the Lions broke out from their own 22 m area following Edinburgh’s kick-off. Moving the ball quickly to Siba Mahashe, the flanker drew the last defender and offloaded to lock Darrien Landsberg, who outpaced the cover defence to score.
Smith converted again as the Lions led 21-0 after 21 minutes.
The bonus point try came in the 25th minute for Morné van den Berg, who was playing his 100th match for the Lions franchise. He scored from a break by flyhalf Chris Smith, crossing under the poles for a converted try and a 28-0 lead.
The Lions were reduced to 14 men in the 39th minute when Horn was yellow-carded for a deliberate knockdown with Edinburgh attacking inside the red zone.
Despite Edinburgh’s numerical advantage, the Lions’ defence held firm and won a penalty. Instead of kicking the ball out, the Lions attacked quickly, going the length of the field for Bronson Mills to score after collecting from van den Berg, who had been brought down short of the line.
Smith’s conversion gave the Lions a 35-0 lead at half-time.
Edinburgh scored first in the second half through Ewan Ashman to make it 35-5 in the 50th minute, but the Lions responded four minutes later when Angelo Davids collected a cross-kick from Smith to score in the right-hand corner.
Smith converted to extend the score to 42-5 in the 55th minute.
Further tries for the Lions came through Davids and Haashim Pead, while Freddy Douglas and Matt Currie scored for the visitors.
The victory keeps the Lions in contention for playoff places in the knockout phase of the competition. – kickoff.com
