Emirates Lions Rampant Against Dragons RFC To Qualify For EPCR Challenge Cup Top 16

 

Emirates Lions qualified for the EPCR Challenge Cup Round of 16, beating the Dragons RFC 60-10 in Johannesburg on Saturday afternoon.

Francke Horn got their first try of the afternoon with a saucy step out wide to beat his last defender before Sam Francis dummied and darted through under the posts for the Lions' second.

Next to cross was Ruan Venter after breaking the line outside the 22 and powering through a third defender to make it to the line, and Tapiwa Mafura wrapped up the bonus point after a great miss pass put him in space out wide.

The Emirates Lions led 31-03 at the halftime break.

Apart from a try by Paula Latu for the Dragons the Lions continue to run the defence of the Dragons into pieces.

Francke Horn, Gianni Lombard, Jaco Visagie, Ruan Venter and Manuel Rass added their names to the scoresheet to secure the Lions a 60-10 win.

Scorers:
Emirates Lions: Tries: Francke Horn (2), Sam Francis, Ruan Venter, Tapiwa Mafura, Francke Horn, Gianni Lombard, Manuel Rass. Conversions: Sam Francis, Gianni Lombard. Penalty: Sam Francis.
Dragons RFC: Try: Paula Latu. Conversion: Will Reed. Penalty: Will Reed.

Teams

Emirates Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Tapiwa Mafura, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Rynhardt Jonker, 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Sam Francis, 9 Morné van den Berg, 8 Francke Horn (c), 7 Ruan Venter, 6 JC Pretorius, 5 Darrien Landsberg, 4 Etienne Oosthuizen, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 PJ Botha, 1 Juan Schoeman. Replacements: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 SJ Kotze, 18 RF Schoeman, 19 Ruan Delport, 20 Jarod Cairns, 21 Nico Steyn, 22 Gianni Lombard, 23 Manuel Rass.

Dragons RFC: 15 Huw Anderson, 14 Rio Dyer, 13 Joe Westwood, 12 Aneurin Owen (c), 11 Ewan Rosser, 10 Will Reed, 9 Che Hope, 8 Taine Basham, 7 Shane Lewis-Hughes, 6 Ryan Woodman, 5 George Nott, 4 Joe Davies, 3 Chris Coleman, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Rodrigo Martinez Manzano. Replacements: 16 Brodie Coghlan, 17 Dylan Kelleher-Griffiths, 18 Paula Latu, 19 Barny Langton-Cryer, 20 George Young, 21 Morgan Lloyd, 22 Lloyd Evans, 23 Harri Ackerman.