URC result: Lions down Stormers in feisty encounter
· Citizen
The Lions were made to work hard, but eventually prevailed with a feisty 24-10 United Rugby Championship (URC) derby win over the Stormers at Ellis Park on Saturday afternoon.
It was a largely scrappy game, with a number of mistakes made by both teams, and in the end it was the home team that did enough to earn a good win.
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An immense defensive shift in the second half, when reduced to 13 men, was a particular highlight for the Lions, and they will hope to build on a positive past two weeks of derby wins going forward.
It was a scrappy start to the match from both teams, who seemed almost cautious in their approach, but regular errors from both didn’t allow either to gain the upper hand.
The set piece battle was pretty even at first, but the Stormers eventually started getting the upper hand in the scrum, with Stormers loosehead prop Ntuthuku Mchunu winning his battle against Lions tighthead RF Schoeman.
Burst to life
It took until the second quarter for the match to burst to life, as the Lions ran in a quickfire double to get them up and running.
First in the 21st minute some slick handling led to their first try, after a good box kick from scrumhalf Morne van den Berg was chased and fielded brilliantly by wing Angelo Davids.
He found captain Francke Horn in support, who offloaded to inside centre Bronson Mills, who in turn found flank Siba Mahashe to hit a gap and sprint in to score.
Three minutes later and they were in again as another smart kick from Van Den Berg, this time a dink over the ruck, was chased well by wing Kelly Mpeku, with him booting it ahead for outside centre Henco van Wyk to chase, pick up and dive over.
Flyhalf Chris Smith slotted both conversions, and with no real other chances over the rest of the half, except for a penalty on the halftime hooter from distance and an angle that he missed, the Lions went into the break with a 14-0 lead.
The Stormers had to respond and enjoyed a good start to the second half, taking play into the Lions 22m where they earned a penalty for flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu to slot to get them on the board.
But the Lions hit straight back with their third try, attacking after getting the ball back from the kick-off, taking play into the Stormers 22m and getting close, where replacement back Erich Cronje got the ball at pace and powered over for the converted try and a 21-3 lead after 45 minutes.
Stormers chances
The Stormers thought they had scored their first try in the 50th minute when they rumbled a maul over, but it was chalked off for them changing their line at the lineout.
However they didn’t have to wait much longer to score, as they were soon back in the Lions 22m, attacking off a lineout, and eventually the ball found JD Schickerling who ran through a massive hole to score under the posts in the 54th minute.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu added the extras, but three minutes later the Lions earned a penalty in the Stormers 22m and Smith slotted it to push them 24-10 up.
Heading into the final quarter the Lions suffered two quickfire blows, as replacement loose forward Siba Qoma was handed a yellow card, and replacement prop Conrad van Vuuren a yellow that was upgraded to red, both for high hits in the 65th and 69th minutes, reducing them to 13 men.
But the Stormers couldn’t take advantage with them eventually held up over the line allowing the Lions to clear.
The Lions then almost stunned the Stormers still with 13 men, as they went up the other end and almost ended the match but Van Wyk knocked on over the try line.
Scorers
Lions: Tries – Siba Mahashe, Henco van Wyk, Erich Cronje; Conversions – Chris Smith (3); Penalty – Smith
Stormers: Try – JD Schickerling; Conversion – Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu; Penalty – Feinberg-Mngomezulu