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Workmanlike Lions keep slim hopes alive

football26 April 2025 16:37
By:Brenden Nel
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The Emirates Lions kept their slim hopes of getting into the Vodacom United Rugby Championship playoffs alive with a workmanlike 26-7 win over Irish side Connacht in Johannesburg on Saturday.

The Lions also dealt Connacht a body blow in their hopes of making the playoffs, as both sides still languish outside the top eight and will need other results to go their way to sneak into qualification.

The victory moved the Lions a place up from 14th to 13th spot, leap-frogging Connacht in the process, but on the evidence of the play both sides will struggle to cope with the quality of some of the top sides in the competition.

The Lions host two Welsh sides in the last two weeks - Scarlets and Ospreys - and will fancy their chances in those games while Connacht have Edinburgh and Zebre Parma in their run-in.

But both sides probably will find they left themselves too much to do in the final weeks when the dust finally settles.

Still, there would have been relief for the Johannesburg side as they struggled in a week of doubting questions, talk of a coaching change and all sorts of issues that were raised after their poor performance against Benetton last week.

But it wasn’t a performance for the ages. Instead it was a conservative, workmanlike grind that we don’t often see from the Lions as they played the per centages, used their forwards well and built scoreboard pressure, all while keeping Connacht struggling.

To be honest, after their five-try performance last week in almost beating the Stormers, Connacht didn’t fire many shots on Saturday.

And apart from one disallowed try, couldn’t quibble with the result, especially as they were by far the poorer of the two teams on the park.

SUBDUED BUT DETERMINED

The Lions didn’t set the park on fire either. They looked subdued, but determined, almost as if the result - any positive result - would be what they were looking for. 

It wasn’t that there wasn’t ambition - it just wasn’t anywhere near the normal ambition this Lions side has tried to play with.

But then again, given they have tried and failed so many times and had lost their last five games in all competitions, a win was more than necessary to ease some nerves around their home base.

LOOSE TRIO STARRED

There were some great performances - especially by their loose trio with Renzo du Plessis snapping up the man of the match award while Jarod Cairns put in a powerhouse display.

Their scrum was dominant and out wide newbie Bronson Mills looked right at home in the backline with Henco van Wyk and Edwill van der Merwe standing out whenever there was an attacking opportunity.

Du Plessis crossed first in the game, as the Lions swamped the Connacht goalline and eventually had no answer to the relentless assault, and while Kade Wolhuter missed a relatively easy conversion, he added a penalty shortly afterwards to extend the lead.

Wolhuter’s second penalty - just before the halftime break, left the Lions 11-0 up in a half that wasn’t really worth more of a description other than to lament the amount of errors on both sides.

Another penalty to open the second half and the Lions were cruising, until Du Plessis earned himself 10 minutes on the sideline for a trip after a Connacht break.

The visitors finally seemed to have something to play for, but were undone time and again by their own mistakes and the Lions' defence.

CONSTANT MISTAKES BY CONNACHT

The constant mistakes gave the Lions the pressure point they needed and on attack they went hard, with Cairns putting in a dominating run down the far touchline, then popping the ball up for JC Pretorius to claim his try.

Connacht finally claimed a try late in the game through Eoin de Buitlear, who went over from close range to ensure they didn’t finish scoreless.

But as they chased a losing bonus point, a turnover ball was kicked downfield and only one chaser - Edwill van der Merwe was there to claim their third try and bring back the smiles onto the faces of the team.

The Lions may only have a slim chance of making it to the playoffs, but they have at least stopped the losing streak and allowed themselves something to celebrate on the long weekend.

Scorers

Emirates Lions - tries: Renzo du Plessis, JC Pretorius, Edwill van der Merwe. Conversion: Lubabalo Dobela. Penalties: Kade Wolhuter (3).

Connacht - try: Eoin de Buitlear. Conversion: David Hawkshaw

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