The Lions secured a 34-22 bonus-point win over the Hollywoodbets Sharks in a postponed Round 8 United Rugby Championship fixture on Saturday afternoon. The win sees the Lions moving ahead of the Vodacom Bulls and Hollywoodbets Sharks to seventh on the URC log.
A yellow card to the Sharks’ Jaden Hendriks late in the first half proved to be the difference, with the scoring of two unanswered tries during the ten minutes, extending the Lions' lead to 20-10 going into the second half..
Following a strong start by the Lions, Chris Smith converted a penalty after four minutes of play to give the Lions 03-00 in the lead.
The Sharks clawed their way back into the game. And following a dominant period in the Lions' red zone, Fez Mbatha scored the Sharks' first points with a try off the back of a four-meter line-out maul. Siya Masuku converted to extend the Sharks' lead to 07-03 after fifteen minutes of play in the first half.
Three minutes later, Chris Smith converted his second penalty for the Lions to cut the Sharks' lead to 07-06.
With ten minutes to play, the Lions’ Asenathi Ntlabakanye crashed over off the back of a five-meter lineout-maul. Chris Smith added the extra two points for the Lions to retake the lead 13-07.
Off the kick-off, the Lions attacked down the touchline and, following several players handling the ball, Morné van den Berg scored the Lions’ second try of the match. Chris Smith converted to extend the Lions’ lead to 20-07.
Siya Masuku converted a late penalty to cut the Lions’ lead by three points. The Lions led 20-10 at the halftime break.
The Lions attacked from the kick-off, and Sibabalwe Mahashe scored his first try in the URC, which Smith converted to extend the Lions' lead to 27-10.
Four minutes later, Sharks’ flanker Tino Mavesere scored off the back of a lineout maul to cut the Lions' lead to 27-15.
The Lions upped the pace of their attack considerably, and a try by Ruan Venter secured their bonus point. Chris Smith was on target with the conversion to extend the Lions' lead to 34-15 with thirty-three minutes still to play in the second half.
With time up, Jurenzo Julius scored a deserved try, which was converted by Jaden Hendrikse. However, the Lions did enough to win 34-22.
Scorers:
Lions: Tries: Asenathi Ntlabakanye, Morné van den Berg, Sibabalwe Mahashe, Ruan Venter. Conversions: Chris Smith (4). Penalties: Chris Smith (2).
Hollywoodbets Sharks: Tries: Fez Mbatha, Tino Mavesere, Jurenzo Julius. Conversion: Siya Masuku (2). Penalty: Siya Masuku.
Teams
Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Kelly Mpeku, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Bronson Mills, 11 Angelo Davids, 10 Chris Smith, 9 Morné van den Berg, 8 Francke Horn (captain), 7 Ruan Venter, 6 Siba Mahashe, 5 Darrien Landsberg, 4 Etienne Oosthuizen, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 PJ Botha, 1 SJ Kotze. Replacements: 16 Franco Marais, 17 RF Schoeman, 18 Eddie Davids, 19 Reinhard Nothnagel, 20 Batho Hlekani, 21 Renzo du Plessis, 22 Haashim Pead, 23 Erich Cronjé.
Hollywoodbets Sharks: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Edwill van der Merwe, 13 Francois Venter, 12 Jurenzo Julius, 11 Jaco Williams, 10 Siya Masuku, 9 Jaden Hendrikse, 8 Thomas Dyer, 7 Vincent Tshituka (c), 6 Tino Mavesere, 5 Jason Jenkins, 4 Corne Rahl, 3 Hanro Jacobs, 2 Fez Mbatha, 1 Phatu Ganyane. Replacements: 16, Eduan Swart, 17 Cameron Dawson, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Emile van Heerden, 20 Phepsi Buthelezi, 21 Ross Braude, 22 Jordan Hendrikse, 23 Yaw Penxe.
