A dominant second half display helped the Lions claim a bonus-point win over the Stormers in their United Rugby Championship clash at the Cape Town Stadium on Saturday.
CAPE TOWN – The Lions claimed a bonus-point win after a dominant second half display in their United Rugby Championship clash against the Stormers at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday night.
There was a double blow for the Stormers before kick-off with Sergeal Petersen and Nama Xaba missing out due to COVID protocols.
Rikus Pretorius was promoted to the starting line-up and started on the wing with Tristan Leyds taking his spot on the bench, while Marcel Theunissen took Xaba’s spot among the replacements.
The @emirates Lions left Cape Town victorious after securing a bonus point win against the DHL Stormers in Cape Town during Round 7 of the @Vodacom #URC. The final score read 19-37.#LionsPride | #STOvLIO https://t.co/i4IcJDe2AU
— Emirates Lions (@LionsRugbyCo) December 4, 2021
After a spirited start by the Stormers in the opening quarter, the Lions looked promising as they attacked the scoreboard first after some fast and determined play, and they got the reward when Francke Horn went over for a converted try (0-7).
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The Stormers were put under more pressure when captain Salmaan Moerat got his timing wrong and was yellow-carded for playing the man in the air.
After that, the Lions extended their lead to 0-10, but after that, they also went down to 14 men when replacement forward Willem Alberts went off for a dangerous tackle on Evan Roos.
Final.#LionsPride | @Vodacom #URC | #STOvLIO pic.twitter.com/goz3BeUiK6
— Emirates Lions (@LionsRugbyCo) December 4, 2021
Flyhalf Manie Libbok had a chance to get his side on the scoresheet, but his attempt went wide.
The Lions copped another yellow when Edwill van der Merwe – playing against his former team – was sin-binned for pulling Seabelo Senatla’s hair.
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Scrumhalf Stefan Ungerer made sure that John Dobson’s crew made it onto the highlights reel in style as he swerved his way into the Lions’ in-goal after some superb assistance by tight head prop Neethling Fouche, who put in a seemingly effortless fend before getting a stunner of an offload to Ungerer to finish (7-10).
They followed that up with another scintillating moment as Senatla ran in a try after another top assist by Fouche (12-10).
The Lions, however, took the lead again with a three-pointer courtesy of Zeilinga’s boot, giving them a one-point lead at half time.
While there were certainly some good moments, the fact that the territory and possession numbers favoured the Stormers in the first half will have them feeling they should have had more points going into the shed.
It was also a half that had more than its fair share of silly errors and spilt opportunities from both sides, and the total of five yellow cards was a teatime testimony to that.
The Lions grabbed their second try early in the second half through André Warner (12-20), and they added a third after striking from a line-out. Zeilinga continued his flawless performance off the tee to add the extras (12-27).
André-Hugo Venter contributed the Stormers’ only points in the second half with three minutes to go (19-30), but the Lions hit right back with a try by Horn to grab a bonus point victory (19-37).
Point scorers:
Stormers — 19: Tries: Stefan Ungerer, Seabelo Senatla, André-Hugo Venter Conversion: Manie Libbok (2) Yellow card: Salmaan Moerat
Lions — 37: Tries: Frankie Horn (2), André Warner, Vincent Tshituka Conversions: Fred Zeilinga (3) Penalties: Zeilinga (3) Yellow card: Willem Alberts, Edwill van der Merwe, Jaco Visagie
