Swanepoel shines as Lions beat Pumas
MATCH REPORT: Tiaan Swanepoel made a big statement as he steered the Lions to a 32-28 win over the Pumas on Friday.
Swanepoel missed only one of his nine kicks at goal, contributing 22 points, while the visitors’ kickers failed with half their attempts at posts, which ended up costing them victory.
*RECAP: Lions v Pumas
The Lowvelders outscored the home team by three tries to two, but their discipline and failure to convert their opportunities let them down in the second half, which allowed Swanepoel to keep the score board ticking over.
Despite the wet conditions, which made handling difficult, the Pumas were full of enterprise in the first half and showed a keenness to throw the ball around, but they had to settle for a half-time score of 13-13.
Built on the back of a dominant scrum, the Pumas had more possession and territory, used clever tactical kicks and were not shy to spread the ball wide, but their efforts were often thwarted by solid Lions defence.
Simon Westraadt (hooker) scored an early maul-try and flyhalf Eddie Fouche kicked two penalty goals and a conversion, but the Pumas had a few more opportunities to score which they didn’t convert.
As a result, the scores were level at the break after Lions scrumhalf Morne van den Berg scored a breakaway try from an error by the visitors, almost against the run of play, two minutes before half-time.
The Lions had the early momentum after the break, with Swanepoel’s boot putting them in the lead, but the visitors refused to give up and tries by AJ le Roux (replacement hooker) – again from a rolling maul – and Ali Mgijima (replacement centre) midway through the second half put the Pumas back in the lead.
The final 12 minutes belonged to the home team though, as MJ Pelser (replacement flank) scored their second try from a strong scrum 5m out, while Swanepoel added a few more points from the boot to secure the home team victory by four points.
Man of the match: Lions flyhalf Tiaan Swanepoel gets our nod. Swanepoel was simply the standout performer and his accurate boot proved to be the difference between the two teams.
The scorers:
For the Lions:
Tries: Van der Berg, Pelser,
Cons: Swanepoel 2,
Pens: Swanepoel 9
For the Pumas:
Tries: Westraat , A le Roux, Mgjima
Cons: Fouche, Smuts
Pen: Fouche 3
Lions: 15 EW Viljoen; 14 Prince Nkabinde, 13 Manuel Rass, 12 James Mollentze, 11 Divan Rossouw; 10 Tiaan Swanepoel, 9 Morné van den Berg; 8 Francke Horn, 7 Roelof Smit, 6 Marnus Schoeman, 5 Reinhard Nothnagel (captain), 4 Emmanuel Tshituka, 3 Wiehahn Herbst, 2 PJ Botha, 1 Nathan McBeth.
Replacements: Dameon Venter, Banele Mthenjane, Jannie du Plessis, Ruhan Straeuli, MJ Pelser, Dillon Smit, Luke Rossouw, Ngia Selengbe, Ruan Dreyer, Izan Esterhuizen, Sibusiso Sangweni.
Pumas: 15 Devon Williams, 14 Luther Obi, 13 Alwayno Visagie, 12 Wayne van der Bank, 11 Ettiene Taljaard, 10 Eddie Fouché, 9 Giovan Snyman, 8 Willie Engelbrecht, 7 Eward Potgieter, 6 Daniel Maartens, 5 Pieter van Vuuren (captain), 4 Brandon Valentine, 3 Ig Prinsloo, 2 Simon Westraadt, 1 Morgan Naudé.
Replacements: 16 Abraham le Roux, 17 Liam Hendricks, 18 Dewald Maritz, 19 Le Roux Roets, 20 Kwanda Dimaza, 21 Ginter Smuts, 22 Ali Mgjima, 23 Tapiwa Mafura.
Referee: Jaco Peyper
Assistant referees: Griffin Colby, Ashleigh Murray
TMO: Stuart Berry
Additional Source: SA Rugby