Edinburgh hold off Lions
MATCH REPORT: The Lions started their United Rugby Championship tour with a 16-17 defeat to Edinburgh in Scotland on Saturday.
The home side outscored their opponents by two tries to one, but Jordan Hendrikse kept his side in the game and ensured a tense finish with his boot.
The game could have gone either way, and the South Africans led for a spell midway through the second half, but a vital score on his debut by Ewan Ashman helped the home team end up with their noses in front.
After a quiet early period, Edwill van der Merwe was yellow-carded for a deliberate knock-on, and the home team took immediate advantage of the extra man, sending the penalty to the corner then scoring from a close-range maul finished off by Luke Crosbie. Ben Healy converted.
Edinburgh conceded a penalty straight from the restart, however, and Hendrikse got his team’s first points on the board.
Midway through the half, Edinburgh touched down again through Mark Bennett after a one-two between Bill Mata and Wes Goosen, but the score was chalked off after the centre was ruled to have been in touch before completing his acrobatic leap for the line.
Restored to full strength, the South Africans began to gain the upper hand at the breakdown and in the set scrum. A sustained assault on the Edinburgh line seemed sure to produce a score, but when a penalty was sent to touch a lineout malfunction allowed the home team to clear.
Inside the final two minutes of the half, however, Hamish Watson was penalised for not releasing. This time Hendrikse opted to go for goal from 40 metres out, and his successful kick made it 7-6 at the break.
A Healy penalty two minutes after the restart restored his team’s four-point lead. That moment apart, the opening 15 minutes of the second half yielded nothing approaching a scoring chance.
Then Lions flank Ruan Venter had the ball down following a line-out maul, but the effort was disallowed for obstruction on Watson well ahead of the ball-carrier.
The South Africans were soon back on the attack, and, after Edinburgh winger Ross McCann was yellow-carded for a high tackle, Francke Horn scored off the back of a line-out.
Hendrikse converted to put his team three in front, but Edinburgh hit back with a try by replacement Ashman, who took a crash ball inside the Lions 22 and embarked on an unstoppable run. Healy converted, then Hendrikse scored his third penalty to make it 17-16.
A very late chance for the Lions vanished when they failed to find touch from a penalty.
Man of the match: Edinburgh openside Hamish Watson received the award for a typically relentless performance on both sides of the ball. The Scotland forward not only displayed his trademark post-tackle work, he was also resolute in defence in what was a very closely-fought contest.
The scorers:
For Edinburgh:
Tries: Crosbie, Ashman
Cons: Healy 2
Pen: Healy
For Lions:
Try: Horn
Con: Hendrikse
Pens: Hendrikse 3
Yellow cards: Edwill van der Merwe (Lions, 13'- cynical play, deliberate knock-on); Ross McCann (Edinburgh, 58' - foul play, high tackle)
Teams:
Edinburgh: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Ross McCann, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Matt Currie, 11 Wes Goosen, 10 Ben Healy, 9 Ben Vellacott (captain), 8 Viliame Mata, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Luke Crosbie, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Glen Young, 3 Javan Sebastian, 2 Dave Cherry, 1 Boan Venter.
Replacements: 16 Ewan Ashman, 17 Robin Hislop, 18 WP Nel, 19 Marshall Sykes, 20 Connor Boyle, 21 Charlie Shiel, 22 Cammy Scott, 23 Chris Dean.
Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Richard Kriel, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Marius Louw (captain), 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Jordan Hendrikse, 9 Sanele Nohamba, 8 Francke Horn, 7 Ruan Venter, 6 Emmanuel Tshituka, 5 Darrien-Lane Landsberg, 4 Ruben Schoeman, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 PJ Botha, 1 Corne Fourie.
Replacements: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 Morgan Naude, 18 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 19 Willem Alberts, 20 Hanru Sirgel, 21 Morne van den Berg, 22 Rynhardt Jonker, 23 Andries Coetzee.
Referee: Chris Busby
Assistant referee: Jonny Perriam, Rob McDowell
TMO: Colin Stanley
Additional reporting: @URCOfficial