With their dominant pack setting the tone, the Emirates Lions finished the inaugural season of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship on a high note by beating the Dragons by 21-11 on a sunny but windy Saturday afternoon at Rodney Parade in Newport.
It was clear from the outset that the men from Johannesburg were keen to give the ball air and play as much rugby as possible in their final match of the season, but mistakes also crept into their game, which probably cost them valuable momentum at times.
Be that as it may, they still scored three tries to one and defended very well to sign off the season in style, while the Dragons were relegated to their 15th defeat of the campaign, with their discipline and execution letting them down at crucial stages of the game.
20:00 Despite putting their hosts under pressure in the scrums, the Emirates Lions’ defensive systems were tested early in the match. When they got a chance, Sibusiso Sangweni (flanker) went over, but it wasn’t awarded as Matt More (centre) was judged to have transgressed at an earlier ruck.
21:15 With the game losing some structure, Rio Dyer scored the first try of the match from an intercept in the visitors’ 22. (05-00)
28:30 The Emirates Lions took a 7-5 lead when impressive wing Edwill van der Merwe went over untouched and under the uprights from a sublime set play off the back of another strong scrum. (05-07)
31:52 Will Reed converted a penalty for the host. (08-07)
40:32 Will Reed Converted his second penalty of the match. (11-07)
44:12 The Emirates Lions came out roaring after the break when Ruan Venter scored off the back of a quick attacking ball and ran a great angle to round off. (11-14)
52:02 Ruan Dreyer’s scored the visitors third try which was down to pure power from the Emirates Lions’ pack. (11-21)
60:00 That is how it stayed until the end as both teams tried hard, but ultimately failed to breach their opponents’ defensive line, but “winning” the second half by 14-0 was more than enough for the Emirates Lions.
Scorers:
Dragons: Try: Rio Dyer. Penalties: Will Reed (2).
Emirates Lions: Tries: Edwill vd Merwe, Ruan Venter, Ruan Dreyer. Conversions: Jordan Hendrikse (3).
Teams:
Dragons: 15. Jordan Williams, 14. Rio Dyer, 13. Adam Warren, 12. Josh Lewis, 11. Jared Rosser, 10. Will Reed, 9. Gonzalo Bertranou, 8. Ollie Griffiths (c), 7. Taine Basham, 6. Ben Fry, 5. Huw Taylor, 4. Joe Maksymiw, 3. Mesake Doge, 2. Elliot Dee, 1. Aki Seiuli. Replacements: 16. Taylor Davies,17. Lloyd Fairbrother, 18. Chris Coleman, 19. Max Williams, 20. Lennon Greggains, 21. Lewis Jones, 22. Sam Davies, 23. Ioan Davies.
Emirates Lions: 15. Quan Horn, 14. Stean Pienaar, 13. Henco van Wyk, 12. Matt More, 11. Edwill van der Merwe, 10. Jordan Hendrikse, 9. Morne van den Berg (vc), 8. Francke Horn, 7. Vincent Tshituka, 6. Sibusiso Sangweni, 5. Reinhard Nothnagel (c), 4. Ruan Venter, 3. Ruan Dreyer, 2. Jaco Visagie, 1. JP Smith. Replacements: 16. PJ Botha, 17. Sti Sithole, 18. Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 19. Ruben Schoeman, 20. Jarod Cairns, 21. Andre Warner, 22. Manuel Rass, 23. Tiaan Swanepoel