A brave Lions side showed great grit to survive an ill-disciplined second half and claim an impressive 35-24 (27-14) United Rugby Championship (URC) bonus points win over Glasgow Warriors at Ellis Park on Saturday afternoon.
The Lions produced an impressive second quarter to take a comfortable half-time lead, which they extended to 18 points early in the second half, only to pick up two yellow cards and a red card to set it back.
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But some excellent play with the backs of the wall allowed the hosts to see out the match for a crucial win that snapped a five-match losing streak in the competition.
Glasgow made a strong start to the match when they established a lineout in the Lions 22m and used a training ground move that put wing Eli Caven away, with flyhalf Tom Jordan adding the extras for a 7-0 lead afterwards. eight minutes.
The Lions then burst into life in a quick three minute spell that saw them run in two converted scores to take a 14-0 lead after 25 minutes.
First the front side started a counterattack in their own half, fullback Quan Horn released the wing Edwill van der Merwe, with him feeding scrumhalf Sanele Nohamba to open in untouched.
Shortly after the restart, Glasgow then tried to attack from inside their own half, but a loose ball allowed number eight Francke Horn to pick up the ball and race away to score an opportunistic effort.
The Lions now fired and ran in the third try at the 30Th minutes after setting the lineout in Glasgow 22m and attacking, spreading the ball to the corner where the center Manuel Rass showed good strength to shrug off the tackle and power through in the corner.
Lions flyhalf Gianni Lombard, who has scored the last two conversions, missed a touch leaving his team 19-7 up, with things getting worse for Glasgow three minutes later when eight Sione Vailanu received a yellow card for foul play.
The Lions scored a bonus point try in the 37thTh minute when they attacked from the lineout in Glasgow 22m, spread the ball well with a skip pass from Lombard put Van Der Merwe in the corner for an unconverted score.
Immediately from the restart the Lions gave Glasgow the gift of a try, because they missed the kick-off, allowing the ball to be grubbered ahead and the wing Cole Forbes to put under the posts, with Jordan’s conversion making it 24-14.
However, the Lions have said the final in the half as an error from the kick-off from Glasgow gave the home team a penalty which Lombard should have converted to send the team to the break in high.
It was a mixed start to the second half for the Lions as they lost Van Der Merwe to a yellow card for cynical play, but scored their fifth when lock Ruan Venter crashed over from close range to give them a 32-14 lead after 52 minutes.
Glasgow then fought back when Jordan first scored to score an unconverted try in the 56th.Th minutes, with Lions fullback Quan Horn yellow carded at the same time for an accidental knock.
Glasgow then went back in for a fourth try, Tom Gordon’s irreplaceable header to bring the visitors back into the contest at 32-24.
Lions substitute prop Ruan Dreyer then received 65Th red card minutes to put the side deeper into trouble when carelessly charged into the ruck, although the side has a penalty advantage and is on the Glasgow tryline.
But the Lions showed incredible grit to keep Glasgow at bay in the final 15 minutes, when Lombard slotted home a penalty on 75 minutes.Th minutes to seal the win.
Goal scorer
lion: Try – Sanele Nohamba, Francke Horn, Manuel Rass, Edwill van der Merwe, Ruan Venter; Conversions – Gianni Lombard (2); Penalty – Lombard (2)
Glasgow Warriors: Tries – Eli Caven, Cole Forbes, Tom Jordan, Tom Gordon; Conversion – Jordan (2)