FULL-TIME: LIONS 33-35 . The Lions end the way they started..WITH A ROAR but it was not enough to prevent the Stormers clinching a nail-biting win here in Gauteng. Thank you for joining us.
TRY, LIONS, HORN! 32-35: Quan Horn asking questions going down the right and making god ground. The Lions do well and they pass quickly while holding possession and then Francke Horn runs to SCORE! It's a two point game as the conversion is OVER also.
The Stormers secure a line-out five metres from the Lions' line. They drive forward but the Lions fight back initially. The Stormers then lose the fight as the Lions secure a penalty and the turnover at the breakdown.
TRY, LIONS, VAN DEN BERG! 26-35: An explosive run after a Lions scrum leads to the try for van den Berg. The conversion is over! Can the Lions continue with this?
Henco van Wyk into a gap makes good ground before Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu makes a telling tackle.
NO TRY! 19-35: The TMO rules that Evan Roos got his hand under the ball as Horn went over!
TRY, LIONS, HORN! 24-35: Alberts uses his strength to take the Lions into the Stormers' half. They string the phases together before Horn is OVER! WOW What a TRY!
The Stormers secure another offside penalty and go for the corner. They secure the line-out and drive forward before losing possession.
The conversion hits the post!
TRY, LIONS, VENTER! 19-35: They drive forward after the line-out and Ruan Venter absolutely STORMS over the Stormers' line thanks to his fellow forwards.
The Lions make a rare visit to the Stormers' 22 and then secure a rare scrum penalty! Great work! They go for the corner.
Blommetjies with a kick down the middle but it's too long and it's touched down for a goal line drop-out.
PENALTY, STORMERS, MNGOMEZULU! 14-35: Sacha Mngomezulu goes for goal and scores!
Another scrum penalty to the Stormers after a scrappy scrum. Ruan Dreyer finding it hard for the Lions.
A period of handling errors from both teams now.
Good work at the scrum by the Lions to secure a free-kick and some relief.
Hendrikse overcooks a long kick and it goes over the dead-ball line. They come back to the Lions 22 for a Stormers scrum.
CONVERSION, LIONS, HENDRIKSE! 14-32: The conversion is OVER!
TRY, LIONS, VAN WYK! 12-32: The Lions fight back with a good move and after some slick passing and good handling Henco van Wyk is OVER!
The conversion from Blommetjies goes wide.
TRY, STORMERS, MNGOMEZULU! 7-32: The Stormers start on the front foot and Hacjivah Dayimani with a chip-kick that the Lions clear. The Stormers recycle the ball before they come again and Gelant starts the move before Sacha Mngomezulu SCORES! Brilliant!
Kick-off! We are back underway in the second half.
HALF-TIME: LIONS 7-27 STORMERS. After some early Lions dominance the Stormers bounced back in style to have a handsome lead at the break.
CONVERSION, STORMERS, BLOMMETJIES! 7-27: Blommetjies adds two more yet again.
TRY, STORMERS, JANTJIES! 7-25: Even more resets at the scrum and eventually Jantjies comes away with it for the Stormers but not before the Stormers earn a free-kick. They do not waste time and make their way to the other end before Sacha Mngomezulu sends them away and Jantjies SCORES!
CONVERSION, STORMERS, BLOMMETJIES! 7-20: Blommetjies adds two more.
TRY, STORMERS, DWEBA! 7-18: Again the Stormers find touch and secure the set-piece. This time they drive forward before Joseph Dweba STORMS OVER!
The Stormers go for the corner and go to the blindside via Roos. They are then dispossessed as the Lions make ground out of their own 22.The Stormers get it back and then go wide before securing an offside penalty.
The scrums have been scrappy and after another the Stormers secure the penalty.
The Stormers secure the scrum penalty and find touch inside the Lions 22. The set-piece is secured and they go wide before they lose the ball near the corner. The Lions secure a high-tackle penalty!
After a few resets at the scrum the Lions come away with it but they make a mess of it and the Stormers will feed a scrum after a handling error.
The Lions go wide before Ruan Nel tries to intercept but is penalised for a deliberate knock-on.
The Lions with a rare penalty after that initial brace. Hendrikse finds touch in the corner.
PENALTY, STORMERS, BLOMMETJIES! 7-13: Marcel Theunissen storms into a gap before the Stormers secure an off the ball penalty. Clayton Blommetjies adds three more.
PENALTY, STORMERS, MNGOMEZULU! 7-10: Sacha Mngomezulu goes for goal and scores!
The Stormers go for touch and secure the line-out. They drive forward before Blommetjies is into a gap. It's a penalty to the STormers at the breakdown.
The Stormers clear a line-out five metres from their own line before securing an offside penalty.
The Lions secure a penalty at the scrum and they set up the line-out.
NO TRY! The Stormers are over for another try and great work by Herschel Jantjies but the TMO converts that there was a forward pass.
CONVERSION, STORMERS, BLOMMETJIES! 7-7: Blommetjies converts!
TRY, STORMERS, MNGOMEZULU! 7-5: Great work by Blommetjies after the restart. He sends a kick into a gap and it bounces nicely for Sacha Mngomezulu, who runs home to SCORE!
CONVERSION, LIONS, HENDRIKSE! 7-0: Hendrikse adds the extras.
TRY, LIONS, BOTHA! 5-0: The Lions secure a penalty and find touch. They secure the set-piece before going wide. The ball is recycled before PJ Botha SCORES!
The Lions feed the first scrum after a handling error by the Stormers on halfway.
Kick-off! We are underway here in Gauteng!
Match officials : Our referee is Morne Ferreira. He will be assisted by Griffin Colby and Stephan Geldenhuys. The TMO is Marius van der Westhuizen.
Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Angelo Davids, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Clayton Blommetjies, 9 Herschel Jantjies, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Marcel Theunissen, 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 Salmaan Moerat (captain), 3 Neethling Fouche, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Kwenzo Blose. Replacements: 16 Andre-Hugo Venter, 17 Lizo Gqoboka, 18 Brok Harris, 19 Gary Porter, 20 Hacjivah Dayimani, 21 Willie Engelbrecht, 22 Paul de Wet, 23 Ben Loader.
Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Richard Kriel, 13 Manuel Rass, 12 Marius Louw (captain), 11 Rabz Maxwane, 10 Jordan Hendrikse, 9 Sanele Nohamba, 8 Francke Horn, 7 Emmanuel Tshituka, 6 Sibusiso Sangweni, 5 Darrien-Lane Landsberg, 4 Ruben Schoeman, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 PJ Botha, 1 Corne Fourie.
Replacements: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 Morgan Naude, 18 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 19 Willem Alberts, 20 Ruan Venter, 21 Morne van den Berg, 22 Henco van Wyk, 23 Andries Coetzee.
Good afternoon and welcome to Emirates Airlines Park for our coverage of this week 1 clash in the United Rugby Championships between the Lions and the Stormers.