Durban — The Lions toppled the defending champions Pumas at Emirates Airline Park on Friday evening thanks to an efficient defence that shut out countless attacks by the men from Mbombela, with the final score of 26-10 being a drubbing despite the Pumas having had most of the ball.
The home team was also clinical when they got their rare opportunities to score and their three first-half tries stemmed from counter-attacks.
The Lions were particularly effective at stopping the Pumas’ maul but mostly it was a case of the Nelspruit team being unimaginative with the abundance of possession they enjoyed.
The Pumas had little problem taking the ball through multiple phases but their bash-bash-bash tactics were easy to defend.
In what would be the pattern of the game, the first ten minutes belonged to the Pumas but they could not get over the line and it was against the run of play that the Lions scored when livewire scrumhalf Morne van den Berg burst through a gap to set up flank JC Pretorius and he passed to Manuel Rass for a dash to the line.
Five minutes later Van den Berg was at it again and this time he sniped through a gap and scored himself.
At the first-quarter mark, the Pumas changed their tactics from kicking penalties to the corner and Tinus de Beer stroked home a long-range effort to put his team on the board. Incredibly that would not score again until the 80th minute.
The Lions scored next when Francke Horne exploded through a ruck and offloaded to Van den Berg for his second try.
Pretorius and van den Berg linking up beautifully 🔗
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) April 28, 2023
Mannie Rass is on hand to finish a perfect Lions set piece 🦁#CurrieCup pic.twitter.com/GzmPcLUNOo
Van den Berg, the hero of the first half became the villain when he stuck a leg out to trip a Pumas player and was yellow-carded for his sins.
But the Pumas were not good enough to cash in on the extra man. The second half would go on for 33 minutes with no scoring until the Lions scrambled a second try for Rass.
It was no solace for the Pumas when — after 80 minutes of trying — they eventually crossed the line when the final hooter had gone, centre Brandon Thomson taking a quick tap penalty near the line.
Point-scorers
Lions 26 — Tries: Manuel Rass (2), Morne van den Berg (2). Conversions: Gianni Lombard (3).
Pumas 10 — Try: Brandon Thomson. Penalty: Tinus de Beer. Conversion: De Beer.
IOL Sport