The Fidelity Securedrive Lions secured a convincing 33–21 victory over Connacht at Ellis Park, marking their sixth consecutive win at home and a record-breaking season for the Johannesburg side.
The Lions dominated the first half, racing to a 21–0 lead by half-time through clinical attacking play and a stout defensive effort that repeatedly held Connacht up over the try line. Although Connacht fought back in the second half, the Lions maintained control to move into third place on the United Rugby Championship log.
The Lions scored five tries to Connacht’s three in an exciting match, which Connacht will feel they should have got more from. They dominated the possession and territory stats for long periods. especially in the first half, but found it hard to finish off. The Lions’ defence, though, was excellent.
Angelo Davids opened the scoring in the 5th minute after a precise pass from fly-half Chris Smith put him in space.
Seventeen minutes later, Henco van Wyk scored a spectacular 40m solo try, smashing through the Connacht defence.
Following a brutal attack by Connacht, Connacht lost the ball once again in contact, and from a turnover, rookie Siba Mahashe found himself at wing and scored in the corner to extend the Lions' lead to 21-00 following Chris Smith’s third conversion.
The Lions continued where they left off in the first half, and after four minutes of play, Erich Cronje scored the Lions’ fourth, securing the bonus point. Chris Smith converted to extend the Lions' lead to 28-00.
A yellow card for Lions prop SJ Kotze in the 48th minute allowed Matthew Devine to score off the back of a driving maul, which was converted by Sam Gilbert to cut the Lions' lead to 28-07.
Following wave after wave of attacks op passes, Henco van Wyk scored the Lions’ fifth try of the day, extending their lead to 33-07 and eight minutes still to play.
Thereafter, Connacht scored tries by Matthew Devine and Paul Boyle to cut the Lions' lead to 33-21, which was the final score.
Scorers:
Fidelity Securedrive Lions: Tries: Angelo Davids, Henco Van Wyk (2), Siba Mahashe, Erich Cronje. Conversions: Chris Smith (4)
Connacht Rugby: Tries: Matthew Devine (2), Paul Boyle. Conversions: Sam Gilbert (3).
Teams:
Fidelity Securedrive Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Angelo Davids, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Richard Kriel, 11 Erich Cronje, 10 Chris Smith, 9 Morné van den Berg, 8 Francke Horn (c), 7 Batho Hlekani, 6 Siba Mahashe, 5 Darrien Landsberg, 4 Ruan Venter, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 PJ Botha, 1 SJ Kotze. Replacements: 16 Morné Brandon, 17 Edward Davids, 18 Sebastian Lombard, 19 Reinhard Nothnagel, 20 Siba Qoma, 21 JC Pretorius, 22 Nico Steyn, 23 Kelly Mpeku
Connacht Rugby: 15 Sam Gilbert, 14 Harry West, 13 John Devine, 12 Hugh Gavin, 11 Shane Jennings, 10 Jack Carty, 9 Colm Reilly, 8 Paul Boyle, 7 Shamus Hurley-Langton, 6 Cian Prendergast (c), 5 Joe Joyce, 4 Niall Murray, 3 Jack Aungier, 2 Dylan Tierney-Martin, 1 Peter Dooley. Replacements: 16 Matthew Victory, 17 Billy Bohan, 18 Fiachna Barrett, 19 Darragh Murray, 20 Sean Jansen, 21 Matthew Devine, 22 Sean Naughton, 23 Shayne Bolton.