The Fidelity ADT Lions secured a bonus point 41-22 win over the DHL Western Province at the Emirates Airline Park. They secured the win already with a dominant 28-08 performance in the first half.
It was a helter-skelter start to the match, with both teams giving the ball a lot of air. The Lions attacked from inside their half out wide, and Renzo du Plessis stormed past and over several defenders to open the scoring for the Lions to lead 05-00 after eight minutes of play.
The WP replied almost immediately with a penalty conversion by Jurie Matthee, which was followed by a penalty conversion by Nico Steyn. The Lions led 08-03 after fifteen minutes of play in the first half.
The first try came almost from the following kickoff when WP launched a fifteen-man attack until the space opened up wide for JC Mars to score WP's first try to level the scores.
The Lions dominated the rest of the first half and added tries by Renzo du Plessis (2), Bronson Mills and a penalty conversion by Nico Steyn to extend the Lions' lead to 28-08. The Lions also already secured the bonus point for four tries scored.
The Lions started the second half like they ended the first with a converted try by Quan Horn and a converted penalty by Nico Steyn to extend the Lions' lead to 38-08.
Not to be outdone WP's JC Mars cut through the defence like a hot knife through butter to score his second try of the match and reduce the Lions' lead to 38-15.
The WP started to claw their way back into the match and set up camp in the Lions' red zone until Paul de Villiers bulldozed his way over the Lions' tryline to make it a sixteen-point game with twenty-two minutes to play.
Nico Steyn added his fourth penalty conversion with sixteen minutes to play to extend the Lions' lead to 41-22 which was also the final score.
Scorers:
Fidelity ADT Lions: Tries: Renzo du Plessis (3), Bronson Mills, Quan Horn. Conversions: Nico Steyn (2). Penalties: Nico Steyn (4).
DHL Western Province: Tries: JC Mars (2), Paul de Villiers. Conversions: Jurie Matthee (2). Penalty: Jurie Matthee.
Teams
Fidelity ADT Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Boldwin Hansen, 13 Kelly Mpeku, 12 Rynhardt Jonker, 11 Tapiwa Mafura, 10 Bronson Mills, 9 Nico Steyn, 8 Jarod Cairns, 7 Sibabalo Qoma, 6 Renzo du Plessis, 5 Darrien Landsberg, 4 Ruben Schoeman (c), 3 RF Schoeman, 2 Morne Brandon, 1 SJ Kotze. Replacements: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 Heiko Pohlman, 18 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 19 Etienne Oosthuizen, 20 Tiaan Wessels, 21 Luca Ribbens, 22 Layton Horn, 23 Zander du Plessis
DHL Western Province: 15 Luke Burger, 14 JC Mars, 13 Wandisile Simelane, 12 Damian Markus, 11 Angelo Davids, 10 Jurie Matthee, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Divan Fuller, 7 Louw Nel, 6 CJ Velleman, 5 Handre Stassen, 4 Andre Goedhals, 3 Zachary Porthen, 2 Scarra Ntubeni (c), 1 Steven Kitshoff. Replacements: 16 Andre-Hugo Venter, 17 Vernon Matongo, 18 Corne Weilbach, 19 Enos Ndiao, 20 Paul de Villiers, 21 Sibusiso Sangweni, 22 Ezekiel Ngobeni, 23 Joshua Boulle.