Cairns carries unbeaten Lions to Rodney Parade win
MATCH REPORT: The Lions were way off their best, but managed to hang on for an important win and retain their unbeaten start to the United Rugby Championship season.
The visitors from South Africa recorded a 23-19 win over a willing Dragons team at Rodney Parade in the city of Newport on Sunday.
Outscored by three tries to two, the win was enough to see them edge their compatriots, the Bulls, into third place on the URC standings.
Along with Irish powerhouse Leinster, the Lions and Bulls are the only remaining unbeaten teams after four rounds.
The win in Newport was based on their superior forward power, with Jarod Cairns' second-half try and his enormous workrate key to the visitors' win.
Cairns topped the carry stats with 15, for 82 meters (also a match-high stat), to go with his two offloads, five defenders beaten and 13 tackles - a defensive stat beaten only by teammate Johannes Pretorius' 15.
* To recap all the drama, CLICK HERE!
* Article continues below ...
The Lions showed early endeavour but were perhaps not as clinical as they should have been.
They did win the kicking game against the home team in those early exchanges and from one of those wins they won a scrum inside the Dragons territory.
The powerful Lions scrum set a base for captain Francke Horn to launch an attack, supported by Springbok Morné van den Berg, who passed back to Horn, with Van den Berg then putting fullback Quan Horn over for the first try. Flyhalf Nico Steyn added the conversion - 7-0 after 11 minutes.
The Dragons' riposte came in the form of a Harri Keddie intercept and a 60-metre sprint. Flyhalf Lloyd Evans leveled the scores at 7-all with the conversion.
That forced the Lions to retreat back into a kicking contest.
It went from bad to worse for the Lions, as hooker Franco Marais was sent to the sin bin for a cynical foul - kicking the ball out of the scrumhalf's hand while lying on the ground.
From the penalty, the Dragons set up a maul that moved 20 metres before No.8 Taine Basham barged over for the home team's second try. This time Evans was wide of the mark with the conversion attempt - 12-7 after 25 minutes.
Steyn narrowed the gap to just two points, 10-12, with a penalty after cynical play by the Dragons.
The half finished with Steyn slotting a second penalty to give the visitors a 13-12 lead at the half-time break.
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An early penalty at the breakdown put the Dragons on the attack as the game restarted, with Basham finishing off a series of impressive raids by the forwards. Evans added the conversion as the home team reclaimed the lead - 19-13.
The Dragons conceded a couple of breakdown penalties in quick succession, allowing replacement Sanele Nohamba to take a shot from 40 metres out - narrowing the gap to three points, 16-19 after 50 minutes.
Some great interplay between Edwill van der Merwe and Jarod Cairns ended with the flank going over. Nohamba's conversion made it 23-19, and the visitors reclaimed the lead as the final quarter approached.
Going into that crucial final quarter the Lions looked to speed up the game and expose the home team's defence.
However, their execution let them down at times and their lack of discipline also proved costly.
With just over 10 minutes remaining, replacement Will Reed had a chance to close the gap, but hooked his penalty shot to the left.
The Lions went into defensive mode, allowing the predictable Dragons attack to run at them and preserving their lead as the home team's handling errors went into double digits.
Two scrum penalties in quick succession allowed the Lions to move deep into the Dragons 22, but they conceded a penalty just metres from the opposition line.
However, Man of the Match Jarod Cairns won a penalty at the breakdown - allowing the visitors to hold on for an important win.
The scorers
For the Dragons
Tries: Keddie, Basham 2
Cons: Evans 2
For the Lions
Tries: Q Horn, Cairns
Cons: Steyn, Nohamba
Pens: Steyn 2, Nohamba
Yellow card: Franco Marais (Lions. 23 - cynical foul, kicking the ball on the ground)
Teams:
Dragons: 15 Angus O’Brien, 14 Rio Dyer, 13 Joe Westwood, 12 Aneurin Owen, 11 Jared Rosser, 10 Lloyd Evans, 9 Rhodri Williams, 8 Taine Basham, 7 Harri Keddie, 6 Shane Lewis-Hughes, 5 Matthew Screech, 4 Ben Carter (captain), 3 Leon Brown, 2 Brodie Coghlan, 1 Rodrigo Martinez
Replacements: 16 Oli Burrows, 17 Cameron Jones, 18 Chris Coleman, 19 Ryan Woodman, 20 Dan Lydiate, 21 Dane Blacker, 22 Will Reed, 23 Ewan Rosser
Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Rabz Maxwane, 13 Erich Cronje, 12 Rynhardt Jonker, 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Nico Steyn, 9 Morné van den Berg, 8 Francke Horn (captain), 7 Jarod Cairns, 6 Johannes Pretorius, 5 Darrien Landsberg, 4 Reinhard Nothnagel, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 Franco Marais, 1 Juan Schoeman.
Replacements: 16 Pieter, 17 Heiko Pohlmann, 18 Conraad van Vuuren, 19 Ruben Schoeman, 20 Renzo du Plessis, 21 Sanele Nohamba, 22 Marius Louw, 23 Henco van Wyk.
Referee: Fillipo Russo (Italy)
Assistant referees: Adam Jones (Wales), Rhys Jones (Wales)
TMO: Stefano Penne (Italy)
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