Match Review: Lions Take the Spoils:
Emirates Airline Park proved to be a difficult hunting ground on Saturday afternoon as the Hollywoodbets Sharks went down 40-10 to the Emirates Lions in a tough Vodacom United Rugby Championship clash.
On a warm but wet Saturday afternoon on the highveld, the home side pulled out all the stops to take a victory in a match they did well to dominate in.
Siya Masuku opened the scoring with a penalty inside the opening five minutes after a good start from his team-mates.
The home side struck back almost immediately, Sanele Nohamba scoring after George Cronje had earlier pulled off a try-saving tackle, only for the Lions to attack off the resultant clearance and with the successful conversion, went 7-3 ahead.
The Lions extended their lead in the 12th minute with a second try, well-crafted by backs and forwards alike, the conversion pushing them into a 14-3 lead.
As the game hit the second quarter, the sheer dominance in possession was rewarded again as the home side scored their third try, this time in the corner after a long, patient build-up from the forwards to take a 19-3 lead.
There had been two efforts in vain from the Hollywoodbets Sharks, firstly Aphelele Fassi and then Ntuthuko Mchunu both held up over the tryline, but finally the closure came, Eduan Keyter on URC debut scoring under the posts after a charge down upfield and the counter involving Masuku and Ethan Hooker. Masuku converted to cut the lead to nine points after half an hour’s play.
With the Lions on a warning for repeated infringements defending their tryline, a patient effort on attack should have been rewarded with a try for Fassi, but for an act of foul play picked up by the TMO which cancelled the score out just before half-time which would have been an important blow and a massive let-off for the home side.
The second half was delayed due to extreme weather and the break didn’t help with continuity as the opening 10 minutes of the second half failed to produce any noticeable fireworks, neither side really able to build quality attack.
A yellow card to Bongi Mbonambi didn’t help the Hollywoodbets Sharks’ cause with half an hour remaining after the Bok hooker was penalised for collapsing an advancing maul and the momentum appeared to have shifted in the Lions’ favour.
To the Hollywoodbets Sharks’ credit, they managed the ensuing 10 minutes well and defended with enough vigour to prevent the Lions from benefitting from their player advantage and the home side failed to score during that period.
But inside five minutes of the final quarter, the Lions launched a multi-phase attack from close-quarters and although initially repelled, they eventually managed to crash over to extend their lead to 26-10 before going further ahead following a fifth try scored with 10 minutes of the match remaining and a huge ask ahead for the visiting Durban side.
Another patient attack reaped rewards for the Lions, keeping the ball and movement alive and their phase play was rewarded with a sixth try with five minutes remaining as they closed out the contest 40 points to 10.
Captain Bongi Mbonambi said afterwards that the players would take the loss on the chin and take responsibility for the result.
“This is a game we’re going to have to take a hard look at ourselves,” he admitted.
“The blame lies with the players not the coaches and we have a lot of hard work ahead of us. We have to look at ourselves and maybe learn the laws better.”
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