“URC: Lions 38 Connacht 14
During Saturday’s game at the Dexcom Stadium, the Lions tore apart Connacht’s unbeaten streak against South African squads in Galway. Despite being a 14-player team, Lions exhibited superior speed and strength, both in possession and not, which made them the deserving victors of the game.
The game kicked off with Lions applying pressure on Connacht’s possession and they took the lead within the first seven minutes. Taking advantage of two successive penalties, they scored a try thanks to number eight, Francke Horn, converted by fly-half Jordan Hendrikse.
Connacht bounced back with fly-half JJ Hanrahan initiating an attack. Though Andrew Smith on the left wing seemed to have made a score, it was thwarted by Lions’ fullback Quan Horn who confiscated the ball in a last-minute tackle. Connacht soon managed to score utilising a penalty, culminating in Cian Prendergast scoring at the 16th minute.
Despite losing prop Asenathi Ntlabakanye to a red card offence for an uncompromising tackle on Conor Oliver, the Lions remained undeterred. Connacht was forced on the back foot as the Lions managed to double the tackles made.
Connacht received a stroke of good luck when Lions scrum-half, Sanele Nohamba, was refused a third try for earlier foul play. This kept the half-time score at 7-12 in favour of Lions.
However, post half-time, Connacht yielded a try to the Lions, with their left wing, Edwill Van Der Merwe, making an intercept from the 10-meter line that Hendrikse converted. Hanrahan responded for Connacht, giving them hope by narrowing the scoring gap. Even so, Lions’ centre, Erich Cronje, and Horn carved through weak Connacht defense, putting victory beyond Pete Wilkins’s team as they fell behind 14-31.”
Morne van den Berg’s entry as a substitute and his subsequent score of the sixth try for the visitors secured a resounding triumph for the South African team. This win had a significant impact as it hampered the chances of Connacht securing a playoff spot as they were overtaken by the South African side.
The scoring in the match went as follows: At the 7-minute mark, Horne scored a try and Hendrikse converted (0-7). Seventeen minutes later, Prendergast responded with a try and Hanrahan converted – equalising at 7-7. By the 25th minute, Pretorious scored making it 7-12. The halftime score was 7-12. In the 48th minute, Van der Merwe scored a try and Hendrikse converted extending the lead to 7-19. Hanrahan responded with a try and a conversation at the 55-minute mark making it 14-19. Cronje’s try and Hendrikse’s conversion took the score to 14-26. By the 78th minute, Van den Berg’s try, and Hendrikse’s conversion, took the final score to 14-38.
CONNACHT’s line-up included T O’Halloran, B Ralston, D Hawkshaw, C Forde, A Smith, JJ Hanrahan, C Blade (captain), D Buckley, T McElroy, J Aungier, N Murray, J Joyce, C Prendergast, C Oliver, S O’Brien.
Substitutes were S Hurley-Langton for Oliver (17 mins), D Heffernan for McElroy, J Duggan for Buckley, S Illo for Aungier (all 49), D Murray for Joyce (53), J Carty for Hanrahan (56), P Boyle for O’Brien (65), C Reilly for Blade (67).
The LIONS named Q Horn, R Kriel, E Cronje, M Louw, E van der Merwe, J Hendrikse, S Nohamba, JP Smith, PJ Botha, A Ntlabakanye, E Oosthuisen, R Nothnagel, JC Pretorious, E Tshituka F Horn in their initial line-up.
On the replacements bench were D Landsburg for Oosthuisen (10 mins), C van Vuuren for Tshituka (18), J Visagie for Botha, M Naude for Smith (both 56), H Sirgel for Pretorious (72), S Pienaar for Cronje, I Esterhuisen for Nothnagel, M van den Berg for Nohamba (all 77).
Ntlabakanye was shown the red card at 16 minutes into the game. The match was officiated by Craig Evans from the WR.