Lions overpower WP at Ellis Park

MATCH REPORT: Flank Renzo du Plessis scored a hat-trick of tries as the Lions beat Western Province 41-22 in their Currie Cup Round Seven clash at Ellis Park.

The home side outscored the visitors by five tries to three in the match for the bonus-point win and it ensured that they stayed in touch with the Bulls at the top of the table.

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The Lions looked a bit more dangerous with ball in hand in the opening minutes and they opened the scoring in the eighth minute after Du Plessis barged his way through several WP defenders out wide before finding his way to the tryline.

Centre Rynhardt Jonker played a huge role in that score with a neat no-look pass to Du Plessis.

Bronson Mills missed the conversion.

Province got on the scoreboard a few minutes later with a Jurie Matthee penalty. However, Nico Steyn restored the Lions' five-point lead in the 16th minute with a three-pointer.

It was the visitors' turn to show their skills with ball in hand and they were rewarded in the 18th minute when JC Mars ran in for a try after some excellent passing from his teammates.

However, the Capetonians struggled to contain the Lions out wide and the home side soon had a 10-point lead after tries from Du Plessis and Mills.

Steyn made it a 13-point lead in the 29th minute with another penalty.

Things got worse for WP in the 34th minute when Du Plessis completed his hat-trick after an overthrow at a line-out inside the visitors' half.

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The Lions continued where they left off in the first half when Springbok Quan Horn charged down a kick before gathering the Ball and scoring a try in the 42nd minute.

After landing the conversion, Steyn produced a great long-range penalty to give the Lions a 30-point lead after 45 minutes.

The visitors then enjoyed a period of dominance after that with tries for Mars and Paul de Villiers. The Lions also had Steyn sent to the sinbin in between those scores for cynical play at the breakdown.

However, Steyn settled the nerves a bit when he slotted a penalty after returning to the field.

Province tried their best to get back into the game in the final quarter, but the Lions produced a great defensive display in those final few minutes.

The scorers:

For Lions:

Tries: Du Plessis 3, Mills, Horn

Cons: Steyn 2

Pens: Steyn 4

For Western Province:

Tries: Mars 2, De Villiers

Cons: Matthee 2

Pen: Matthee

Yellow card: Nico Steyn (Lions, 51'- cynical play)

Teams:

Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Boldwin Hansen, 13 Kelly Mpeku, 12 Rynhardt Jonker, 11 Tapiwa Mafura, 10 Bronson Mills, 9 Nico Steyn, 8 Jarod Cairns, 7 Sibabalo Qoma, 6 Renzo du Plessis, 5 Darrien Landsberg, 4 Ruben Schoeman (captain), 3 RF Schoeman, 2 Morne Brandon, 1 SJ Kotze

Replacements: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 Heiko Pohlman, 18 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 19 Etienne Oosthuizen, 20 Tiaan Wessels, 21 Luca Ribbens, 22 Layton Horn, 23 Zander du Plessis

Western Province: 15 Luke Burger, 14 JC Mars, 13 Wandisile Simelane, 12 Damian Markus, 11 Angelo Davids, 10 Jurie Matthee, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Divan Fuller, 7 Louw Nel, 6 CJ Velleman, 5 Handre Stassen, 4 Andre Goedhals, 3 Zachary Porthen, 2 Scarra Ntubeni (captain), 1 Steven Kitshoff.

Replacements: 16 Andre-Hugo Venter, 17 Vernon Matongo, 18 Corne Weilbach, 19 Enos Ndiao, 20 Paul de Villiers, 21 Sibusiso Sangweni, 22 Ezekiel Ngobeni, 23 Joshua Boulle.

Referee: Hanru van Rooyen

Assistant referees: Local

TMO: Stephan Geldenhuys

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