Johannesburg - A spirited performance from the Lions, full of character and discipline, saw the Joburgers clinch a fantastic 22-19 United Rugby Championship victory at Dam Health Stadium against Edinburgh on Friday night.
It was the visitors’ third consecutive triumph on their European tour, and will be fondly remembered for years to come.
Edinburgh controlled most of the play during the first half, crossing the gainline on several occasions. The Lions defence, however, remained composed and scrambled with purpose to halt any momentum the Scottish franchise generated.
Nevertheless, Edinburgh toiled away to open the scoring in the 19th minute as a maul, with backs in tow, crashed over the whitewash – Viliame Mata rising from the melee as the try-scorer.
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Crucially, the Lions remained calm and focussed and enjoyed a dominant final 10 minutes of the first stanza. It resulted in a brilliant movement off an attacking line-out late in the half, which saw Andries Coetzee making the final steps passed the stretch defence of Edinburgh to level the scores.
By all accounts, despite Edinburgh’s industrious efforts, the Lions should have finished off the first 40 in the lead, had it not been for the eight points the normally accurate Gianni Lombard left on the park.
Darcy Graham, meanwhile, continued his try-scoring spree in the tournament with a brilliant finish in the corner 13 minutes into the second half. Henco van Wyk, who had an excellent outing, then showed off some of his own brilliance, powering up to break through the Edinburgh defence to level matters with 20 minutes left.
Moments later, the hosts snaffled the kick-off, forcing the Lions to concede a penalty. Mata, once again powered by the maul, then crashed over for his brace as the hosts grabbed a 19-12 lead.
But the Lions refused to surrender, driving Edinburgh back into their 22. A smartly taken line-out saw Man of the Match Francke Horn dot down, Lombard converting to once again level the scores from the play.
With 10 minutes remaining, the Lions’ defence showed huge amounts of guts and determination to deny an onslaught from Edinburgh, repelling several attacks, and then forcing an error to drive the Scottish side back onto their 5m line.
At that moment, Marius Louw folded himself over the ruck to win a penalty, Lombard finally slotting over the three-pointer for a slender 22-19 lead with five minutes left. The Joburgers refused to relinquish that hard-earned lead, holding on with great verve to claim an impressive victory.
Scorers:
Edinburgh (5) 19: Try: Mata (2), Graham; Conversions: Boffelli (2)
Lions (5) 22: Tries: Coetzee, Van Wyk, Horn; Conversions: Lombard (2); Penalty: Lombard
IOL Sport