The Emirates Lions laid the foundation of their 30-25 win against the Dragons RFC in the first 20 minutes of the game. The Emirates Lions secured a home playoff in the EOCR Challenge Cup with this win ending third in their Pool.
The Dragons showed their intent with their first try, however, the Emirates Lions reacted brilliantly scoring two exciting tries to lead 18-05 after 20 minutes of play.
The Emirates Lions dominated the second quarter forcing the Dragons to concede several penalties. The educated foot of Jordan Hendrikse converted three penalties during the second quarter to go into the second half leading 27-05.
The momentum has definitely shifted with the Dragons RFC getting their hand on quality attacking ball. The Dragons going into the fourth quarter setting up camp in the 22m of the Emirates Lions. The Dragon RFC's dominance resulted in them scoring two tries to reduce the Emirates Lions' lead to just 30-17 with 20 minutes left to play.
The Dragons RFC dominated the last quarter and scored 8 unanswered points, however, unfortunately for the host missed kicks cost them the match as well as a home top 16 playoff. The Emirates Lions won 30-25.
Scorers:
Dragons RFC: Tries: Will Reed, Aki Seiuli, Jordan Williams, Rio Dyer. Conversion: Will Reed. Penalty: JJ Hanrahan.
Emirates Lions: Tries: Quan Horn, Edwill van der Merwe. Conversion: Jordan Hendrikse. Penalty: Jordan Hendrikse (6)
As it Happened:
01:58 Jordan Hendrikse converted a penalty for the Emirates Lions. (00-03)
09:52 Will Reed scored a try for the Dragons RFC. The Dragons were patient on the attack moving the ball, and using their forwards until the smallest gap appeared for Reed to slip through. (05-03)
14:16 Jordan Hendrikse converted a penalty for the Emirates Lions. (05-06)
16:26 The Emirates Lions attacked with purposes and Quan Horn received the last pass to score in the corner. (05-13)
18:21 The Emirates Lions attacked from the kick-off as Edwill van der Merwe showed his speed to score in the other corner. (05-18)
24:07 Jordan Hendrikse converted a penalty for the Emirates Lions. (05-21)
35:06 Jordan Hendrikse converted a penalty for the Emirates Lions. (05-24)
37:17 Jordan Hendrikse converted a penalty for the Emirates Lions. (05-27)
44:25 Jordan Hendrikse converted a penalty for the Emirates Lions. (05-30)
49:53 Aki Seiuli scored Dragons RFC's second try from the back of a 5m lineout-maul. (10-30)
59:24 Jordan Williams scored the Dragons RFC's third try following them setting up camp in the 22m of the Emirates Lions. Great handling by the Dragons created the space for Williams to score the Dragons RFC's third try. (17-30)
64:30 Emile van Heerden (Emirates Lions) was sent off with a yellow card.
66:09 Rio Dyer scored the Dragons RFC fourth and bonus point try. The Dragons RFC has taken full control of the match at this stage and is launching wave after wave of attacks on the Emirates Lions tryline. (22-30)
77:22 JJ Hanrahan converted a penalty for the Dragons RFC. (25-30)
Teams:
Dragons RFC: 15. Jordan Williams, 14. Rio Dyer, 13. Steff Hughes (c), 12. Max Clark, 11. Ashton Hewitt, 10. Will Reed, 9. Lewis Jones, 8. Ross Moriarty, 7. Taine Basham, 6. George Nott, 5. Ben Carter, 4. Joe Davies, 3. Lloyd Fairbrother, 2. Bradley Roberts, 1. Rob Evans. Replacements: 16. Brodie Coghlan, 17. Aki Seiuli, 18. Leon Brown, 19. Sean Lonsdale, 20. Aaron Wainwright, 21. Rhodri Williams, 22. JJ Hanrahan, 23. Jack Dixon.
Emirates Lions: 15. Andries Coetzee, 14. Quan Horn, 13. Henco van Wyk, 12. Marius Louw (c), 11. Edwill van der Merwe, 10. Jordan Hendrikse, 9. André Warner, 8. Emmanuel Tshituka, 7. Emile van Heerden, 6. Jaco Kriel, 5. Darrien Landsberg, 4. Willem Alberts, 3. Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2. Michael van Vuuren, 1. JP Smith. Replacements: 16. PJ Botha, 17. Morgan Naude, 18. Ruan Smith, 19. Pieter Jansen van Vuren, 20. Ruhan Straeuli, 21. JC Pretorius, 22. Morné van den Berg, 23. Rynhardt Jonker.
