Johannesburg – A spirited performance from the Lions, full of character and discipline, saw the Joburgers clinch a fantastic 22-19 United Rugby Championship victory at Dam Health Stadium against Edinburgh on Friday night.
It was the visitors’ third consecutive triumph on their European tour, and will be fondly remembered for years to come.
Edinburgh controlled most of the play during the first half, crossing the gainline on several occasions. The Lions defence, however, remained composed and scrambled with purpose to halt any momentum the Scottish generated.
Nevertheless, Edinburgh toiled away to opening the scoring in the 19th minutes as a maul, with backs in tow, crashed over the whitewash – Viliame Mata rising from the melee as the try-scorer.
😍 SENSATIONAL COVER TACKLE 😍@Vodacom #URC | #EDIvLIO @LionsRugbyCo pic.twitter.com/u0guxXAIPz
— Vodacom United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial_RSA) October 7, 2022
Crucially, the Lions remained calm and focussed and enjoyed a dominant final 10 minutes of the first stanza. It resulted in a brilliant movement of an attacking line-out late in the half, which saw Andries Coetzee making the final steps passed the stretch defence of Edinburgh to level the scores.
By all accounts, despite Edinburgh’s industrious efforts, the Lions should have finished off the first 40 in the lead, had it not been for the eight points the normally accurate Gianni Lombard left on the park.
Darcy Graham continued his try-scoring spree in the tournament with a brilliant finish in the corner 13 minutes into the second half. Henco van Wyk, who had an excellent outing, then showed off some of his own brilliance, powering to break through the Edinburgh defence, to level matters with 20 minutes left.
Moments later, the hosts snaffled the kick-off, forcing the Lions to concede a penalty. Mata, powered by the maul, then crashed over for his brace as the hosts grabbed a 19-12 lead. But the Lions refused to be surrender, driving Edinburgh back into their 22.
A smartly taken line-out saw Man of the Match Franke Horn dot down, Lombard converting to once again level the scores.
With 10 minutes remaining, the Lions’ defence showed huge amounts of guts and determination to deny an onslaught from Edinburgh, repelling several attacks, and then forcing an error to drive the Scottish side back onto their 5m line.
Marius Louw folded himself over the ruck to win a penalty, Lombard finally slotting over the three-pointer for a slender 22-19 lead with five minutes left. The Joburgers refused to relinquish their hard-earned lead, holding on with great verve to claim an impressive victory.
Scorers:
Edinburgh (5) 19: Try: Mata (2), Graham; Conversions: Boffelli (2); Penalty:
Lions (5) 22: Tries: Coetzee, Van Wyk, Horn; Conversions: Lombard (2); Penalty: Lombard
Sport
