FULL-TIME, LIONS 26-7 CONNACHT. A tremendous win for the Lions who dominated the second half as Connacht wilted. A great celebration of rugby from the home side to break their five-match losing streak.

FULL-TIME, LIONS 26-7 CONNACHT. A tremendous win for the Lions who dominated the second half as Connacht wilted. A great celebration of rugby from the home side to break their five-match losing streak.

CONVERSION, LIONS, TOBELA! 26-7; Tobela strikes the conversion home from 10m to the left of the poles.

TRY, LIONS, VAN DER MERWE! 24-7; Connacht desperately trying to run the line, but tiredness leads to a loose pass which is gathered, passed to Edwill van der Merwe, who kicks forward into the in-goal area, runs unopposed to collect and touch down for the try!

Lions penalised and Connacht kick to their 10m line for the throw…

Connacht fighting desperately for the seven-pointer to earn a losing bonus point but the Lions are holding them up Connacht attack… Lions attack, both sides eager for that final score. Connacht now running from inside their 22, but the Lions regain possession and run at the Connacht 22…

Another great run from Edwill van der Merwe, kicking across field in front of the poles, but Connacht manage to get to the ball first to clean up.

GREAT MOVE by the Lions sees them power down the right wing, a great overhead pass by Kriel finds Nico Steyn who evades one tackle as he skips over the tryline, only for Matthew Devine to crash into him, dislodging the ball from his hands. Incredible rugby all around.

CONVERSION, CONNACHT, CARTY! 19-7; Slapped over from in front of poles.

TRY, CONNACHT, DE BUITLEAR! 19-5; Connacht drive through the Lions 5m line, Eoin de Buitléar rounding off the move by dragging three Lions players over the line with him.

TRY, CONNACHT, DE BUITLEAR! 19-5; Connacht drive though the Lions 5m line, Eoin de Buitléar rounding off the move by dragging three Lions players over the line with him.

WIDE! After a break for an injury, Wolhuter slides his kick wide of the far post from 15m to the left of poles. That's unlikely to cost the Lions in this match, though.

TRY, LIONS, PRETORIUS! 19-0; Great work down the left touchline from the Lions, Pretorius following up well to take the pop-up pass, run through the tryline and dive over for the five-pointer close to the poles. Surely that has killed off Connacht?

Connacht pressing forward on the Lions, but the ball is kicked back downfield.

NO TRY! It was very minimal head contact, but arguably the Lions player should have gone in lower. Huge relief for Connacht as that JUST keeps them in the match.

BRILLIANT MOVE by the Lions, spreading play to the left touchline, leading to a super run down the wing and around his opponent by Edwill van der Merwe, who runs round and dives into the air to dot down under the poles to complete a great try from the Lions… but the ref has asked the TMO to look into head contact on an earlier tackle…

Connacht running the line well but being pulled to ground near the left touchline, but they lose the ball and the Lions launch a counter-attack…

Play breaks down in the centre of the field, both sides showing signs of tiring, but particularly Connacht.

Connacht defending well to keep the Lions at bay.

GREAT TRY FROM CONNACHT, driving the pack of forwards over the line against the 14-man Lions side… but the TMO rules NO TRY! Huge disappointment for the visitors who REALLY needed that to open their scoring.

YELLOW CARD, LIONS, DU PLESSIS. Carded and binned after a deliberate trip on Santiago Cordero.

Lions drive Connacht back to the halfway line, only to concede a penalty, allowing Connacht to kick into the Lions 22 for a line-out.

Connacht driving forward into the Lions half, but a handling error gives the Lions a scrum.

PENALTY, LIONS, WOLHUTER! 14-0; Wolhuter nails the kick to give the Lions a very nice lead.

Connacht blown and the Lions will kick for goal…

KICK-OFF!! We're underway with the second half.

HALF-TIME, LIONS 11-0 CONNACHT. Nice lead for the home side to take into half-time. The Lions are outplaying the visitors as things stand, but the next 40 minutes is huge in terms of making the playoffs.

Wolhuter kicks to the 5m line for a lineout… the sides maul on the 5m line, but the Lions are penalised and Connacht will have the relief of a scrum right on half-time.

The TMO is called to judge if there was a knock-on by Connacht as the Lions ran their line.

PENALTY, LIONS, WOLHUTER! 11-0; Struck sweetly to take the Lions into double figures.

Connacht blown for an infringement in the scrum and Wolhuter lines up his kick just short of the 22 and 3m to the left of the poles.

Connacht running the ball out of their 22 well… but a long pass out wide is blown as forward, so the Lions will feed the scrum in front of the poles 7m short of the Connacht 22…

Lions break from the scrum but are penalised near the touchline for a knock-on.

Lions penalised in the scrum for pushing before the ball comes in… Connacht kick to the Lions who kick back, winning a scrum after a Connacht handling error.

Lions driving forward well before running the line… Van Wyk grubbers forward into the Connnacht 22, but the visitors are forced to concede the throw-in.

Lions pour upfield but are penalised for going over the top.

Lions kick upfield and Kriel this time rises to grab the ball, only to be dragged into touch.

Connacht penalised in the line-out, allowing the Lions to kick play upfield.

Connacht press past the Lions 10m line looking to open their scoring, but the Lions keep dragging them to ground… Connacht kicking into the Lions 22 for a throw-in, allowing the medics to see to a player on either side.

PENALTY, LIONS, WOLHUTER! 8-0; Stroked through the poles without a problem.

Some slick handling by the Lions sees them break the Connacht line again until a forward play breaks the movement, but the Lions have a penalty advantage near the 10m line almost in front of poles, so Wolhuter sizes it up…

Lions on the attack again, breaking the Connacht 10m line, but the visitors scrap the ball away and kick play upfield…

WIDE! Wolhuter slices his conversion kick wide of the nearside post… just 20m to the right of pole, he would have wanted to do better than that.

TRY, LIONS, DU PLESSIS! 5-0; Lorenzo du Plessis rounds off a superb move by the Lions, crashing over for the try.

Connacht penalised a second time, allowing the Lions to kick to their 22 for a lineout. They run the ball and press had trying to break the 22… and there is a penalty advantage called as they drive up to the 5m…

PENALTY! Quan Horn rises to take a high ball, but is knocked to ground by Dave Heffernan, who raises his hands in apology and escapes sanction.

Connacht press play up to the Lions 22, drive down the left wing, but the Lions win the ball back and kick play deep back into the Connacht half.

Lions run the line and push up to the 5m line, but Van Den Berg fumbles the ball at the back of the maul, and Connacht are awarded a scrum.

Connacht drive up to close to the Lions 5m, but the hosts win the ball back, run the line and then kick upfield… the ball is chased down and Lions win a penalty that is kicked into touch at the Connacht 22.

TAKEN IN THE AIR! Edwill van der Merwe chases after a high ball, rises to challenge for it and claims it ahead of Connacht's defence, but after a maul the Lions re blown for a foul and the visitors kick play up to past the Lions 10m line.

The visitors running down the left wing until stopped, then spreading the ball to the right wing, but the Lions hold them to the Lions 10m line…

KICK-OFF! We're underway here at Ellis Park!

Referee: Hollie Davidson (Scotland). Assistant referees: Morné Ferreira (South Africa), Hanru Van Rooyen (South Africa). TMO: Sam Grove-White (Scotland).

Connacht: 15 Piers O’Conor, 14 Shayne Bolton, 13 David Hawkshaw, 12 Cathal Forde, 11 Shane Jennings, 10 Jack Carty, 9 Matthew Devine, 8 Sean Jansen, 7 Conor Oliver, 6 Cian Prendergast (captain), 5 Joe Joyce, 4 Josh Murphy, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Dave Heffernan, 1 Peter Dooley. Replacements: 16 Eoin de Buitléar, 17 Jordan Duggan, 18 Sam Illo, 19 Oisín Dowling, 20 Paul Boyle, 21 Colm Reilly, 22 Hugh Gavin, 23 Santiago Cordero.

Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Richard Kriel, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Bronson Mills, 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Kade Wolhuter, 9 Morné van den Berg, 8 Jarod Cairns, 7 Renzo du Plessis, 6 JC Pretorius, 5 Ruan Delport, 4 Ruben Schoeman, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 Jaco Visagie (captain), 1 Morgan Naude. Replacements: 16 PJ Botha, 17 SJ Kotze, 18 RF Schoeman, 19 Darrien Landsberg, 20 Izan Esterhuizen, 21 Nico Steyn, 22 Lubabalo Dobela, 23 Rynhardt Jonker.

Here are the teams again…

Round 15 was no better for either side, as the Lions lost 31-42 to Benetton while the Stormers beat Connacht 34-29.

Round 14 saw both sides suffer another loss, with (2 BP) Connacht losing 24-30 at home to Munster, while the Lions were hammered 42-0 away from home.

In Round 13 the Lions went down 20-17 away to Cardiff, while Connacht also lost by three points to the Ospreys (43-40).

Connacht are two places above the Lions in 14th place, having picked up five wins and 10 losses from their 115 matches. They have gathered 35 points in the season, with a points difference of minus-41.

The Lions are down in 14th place on the URC table, with six wins and nine losses from their 15 matches. They have 31 points, with a points difference of minus-45.

The two teams are level on points across those four matches, both teams averaging 31 points per match.

Connacht have won three of their last four matches against the Lions, losing one of those matches.

Connacht: 15 Piers O’Conor, 14 Shayne Bolton, 13 David Hawkshaw, 12 Cathal Forde, 11 Shane Jennings, 10 Jack Carty, 9 Matthew Devine, 8 Sean Jansen, 7 Conor Oliver, 6 Cian Prendergast (captain), 5 Joe Joyce, 4 Josh Murphy, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Dave Heffernan, 1 Peter Dooley. Replacements: 16 Eoin de Buitléar, 17 Jordan Duggan, 18 Sam Illo, 19 Oisín Dowling, 20 Paul Boyle, 21 Colm Reilly, 22 Hugh Gavin, 23 Santiago Cordero.

Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Richard Kriel, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Bronson Mills, 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Kade Wolhuter, 9 Morné van den Berg, 8 Jarod Cairns, 7 Renzo du Plessis, 6 JC Pretorius, 5 Ruan Delport, 4 Ruben Schoeman, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 Jaco Visagie (captain), 1 Morgan Naude. Replacements: 16 PJ Botha, 17 SJ Kotze, 18 RF Schoeman, 19 Darrien Landsberg, 20 Izan Esterhuizen, 21 Nico Steyn, 22 Lubabalo Dobela, 23 Rynhardt Jonker.

Here are the teams…

Good afternoon and welcome to our live coverage of the URC Round of 16 clash between the Lions and Connacht, coming to you direct from Ellis Park in Johannesburg.