Hendrikse's boot seals big Lions win in France

Emirates Lions flyhalf Jordan Hendrikse put in a man-of-the-match performance, kicking 23 points as his second-stringers pulled off a massive victory away from home in the EPCR Challenge Cup against Perpignan, winning 28-12 on Sunday.

Hendrikse’s boot was the massive difference as the Lions punished an incredibly ill-disciplined French side, the latter who never scored a point in the second half and never really looked like they were in the game.

But the win made it four from four for South African sides in European competitions this weekend, and kept up the 100 per cent record.

𝗞𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗔𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲 🏉

The Emirates Lions roar first in the #ChallengeCupRugby as Jordan Hendrikse perfectly threads the uprights with a kick from inside his own half 🦁

📱 Stream #ChallengeCupRugby live: https://t.co/bDeiretgWPpic.twitter.com/9XidECege3

— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) December 10, 2023

In essence though, this will be a massive boost for coach Ivan van Rooyen, especially after the team took the decision to rest almost an entire team and to send the fringe players to France, with the first-choice players preparing for next weekend’s game against Newcastle Falcons.

To be fair, Perpignan are having a nightmare season and are second last in the French Top 14, and on the evidence of what we saw in the game, it is easy to understand why.

The side played with little passion or purpose and the Lions' defence found it easy to smother every attack they had.

And as good as the Lions performance was, this wasn’t a classic game, but rather one where the Lions played tactically smart, scored the only try of the game and protected their lead through Hendrikse’s boot.

GOOD ALL-ROUND PERFORMANCES

It was a strategy that was built on solid defence, and a bunch of players who were keen to prove a point.

Backed up by a scrum that was dominant throughout, the Lions looked as if they had certainly learnt a lot from last year’s competition and had prepared their players sufficiently for the task.

Perpignan struggled a lot in the set-pieces and especially at the breakdown, where their desperation to steal the ball often overstepped and it wasn’t a surprise that they conceded double the amount of penalties that the Lions did - 16 against 8.

Other than Hendrikse, there were good all round performances by the likes of Zander du Plessis, Nico Steyn and Jaco Visagie - who as captain led the carry count for the game and was everywhere.

The only try was scored when a Lions clearance was knocked on by Perpignan’s winger Lucas Dubois and into the hands of the Lions’ Erich Cronje, who sent Rabz Maxwane speeding down the touchline to score.

After that, it became a duel between the boot of Hendrikse and Jean-Pasqual Barraque, who was by far Perpignan’s best player.

And while Barraque’s boot had left his side one point adrift at 13-12 down at the break, the ill-discipline in the second half cost them as Hendrikse slotted five penalties in the second half to take any chance of a comeback away from the home side.

The Lions will head home on Monday but a totally different side, buoyed by this result, is likely to face Newcastle on Saturday.

🦁 @LionsRugbyCo came away from their clash with @usap_officiel with a big win off the back of a dominant second half display!

Check out the best moments on YouTube 👇#ChallengeCupRugby

— EPCR Challenge Cup (@ChallengeCup_) December 10, 2023

Scorers

Perpignan - penalties: Jean-Pasqual Barraque (4).

Emirates Lions - try: Rabz Maxwane. Conversion: Jordan Hendrikse. Penalties: Hendrikse (7)