The Emirates Lions recorded their first win in the EPCR Challenge cup beating Slade Français Paris 30-12 in an emphatic display of running rugby on Friday earning themselves a bonus point for the four tries they scored.
Stade de Francais started the game by putting a lot of pressure in the scrums, forcing the Emirates Lions to concede several penalties. However, the Emirates Lions absorbed the pressure and earned several penalties during the latter part of the first quarter from the scrums. The Emirates started to dominate and scored every time they entered the 22m of their visitors to lead 10-00 after 20 minutes of play.
The Emirates Lions dominated the first half of the second quarter and added ten unanswered points to extend their lead to 20-00. However, Stade Francais started to put phases together and set up camp in their hosts' 22. A disallowed try followed by the try by the scrumhalf reduced Emirates Lions' lead to 20-05 at the halftime break.
Stade Francais started the second half as they finished the first piling the pressure on the home team. Desperate defence by the Emirates Lions and errors by Stade Francais kept the visitors from scoring. The Emirates Lions broke away with 2 minutes left in the third quarter to score an unconverted try which was the only points that were scored in the third quarter. The Emirates Lions led 25-05 with 20 minutes left to play on the clock.
In the final quarter of the match, the Emirates Lions had lost most of its structure allowing their visitors to claw their way back into the match. A try each resulted in a 30-12 win for the Emirates Lions although Stade Francais will rue several missed opportunities
Scorers:
Emirates Lions: Tries: Quan Horn (2), Andries Coetzee, Ruan Smith. Conversions: Jordan Hendrikse (2). Penalties: Jordan Hendrikse (2)
Stade Français Paris: Tries: James Hall, Léo Barre. Conversion: Ferdinand Dreno.
As it happened:
11:45 Jordan Hendrikse converted a penalty for the Emirates Lions to take an early lead. (03-00)
15:35 A flat skip pass by Jordan Hendrikse gave Quan Horn the space to finish in the corner. (10-00)
24:12 Jordan Hendrikse converted a second penalty for the Emirates Lions. (13-00)
26:18 The Emirates Lions started to attack from inside their own 22 and after some great interplay, Quan Horne ran the final 50m to score his second try of the match. (20-00)
40:57 James Hall scored Stade Francais' first try of the match. Stade Francaise launched wave after wave of attacks on the tryline of the Emirates Lions before Hall's sniping run resulted in an unconverted try. (20-05)
58:00 Andries Coetzee scored the Emirates Lions' third try after some great interplay and handling by the home team. (25-05)
69:13 Léo Barre scored Stade Francais' second try. Once again the visitors set up camp in the 22m of their hosts before Barre scored. (25-10)
74:12 Ruan Sith scored the Emirates Lions' fourth and bonus point try. (30-12)
Teams:
Emirates Lions: 15. Andries Coetzee, 14. Edwill van der Merwe, 13. Henco Van Wyk, 12. Marius Louw, 11. Quan Horn, 10. Jordan Hendrikse, 9. Sanee Nohamba, 8. Emmanuel Tshituka, 7. Ruan Venter, 6. Jaco Kriel (c), 5. Pieter Jansen van Vuren, 4. Willem Alberts, 3. Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2. Jaco Visagie, 1. JP Smith. Replacements: 16. Michael van Vuuren, 17. Sti Sithole, 18. Ruan Smith, 19. Reinhard Nothnagel, 20. Darrian Landsberg, 21. Sangweni Sibusiso, 22. André Warner, 23. Rynhardt Jonker.
Stade Francais Paris: 15. Léo Monin, 14. Nadir Megdoud, 13. Paolo Odogwu, 12. Theo Dachary, 11. Harry Glover, 10. Léo Barre, 9. James Hall, 8. Juan Martin Scelzo, 7. Mathieu Hirigoyen, 6. Giorgi Tsutkiridze, 5. Juan Johan Van der Mescht, 4. Nathan Huguen, 3. Giorgi Melikidze, 2. Laurent Panis (c), 1. Vasil Kakovin. Replacements: 16. Lucas Peyresblanques, 17. Sergo Abramishvili, 18. Paul Alo Emile, 19. Noa Kanika, 20. Arthur Coville, 21. Alex Arrate, 22. Ferdinand Dreno, 23. Moses Alo Emile.
