Fourteen-man Lions turn boardroom drama into rare win

MATCH REPORT: The Lions put a tumultuous week of boardroom drama behind them to end a five-match United Rugby Championship losing streak.

Having come into the match on the back of a week that required a 'behind-closed-doors' clear-the-air meeting, the Lions recorded a 35-24 bonus-point victory at Ellis Park on Saturday.

It ended a high-flying Glasgow Warriors' 10-game unbeaten run in all competitions.

To top it all, the Lions were reduced to 13 men for a period, after yellow cards to Edwill van der Merwe and Quan Horn.

They finished the match with 14 men, after prop Ruan Dreyer was red-carded in the 66th minute for a dangerous clear-out on the Glasgow line.

It was a candid players' meeting on Thursday that set the stage for the team to emerge magnanimously from the dire situation they found themselves in.

Lions Rugby Company Chief Executive Officer Rudolf Straeuli and board Chairman Altmann Allers both took exception to a @rugby365com report that raised questions about administrative issues and player unhappiness at the franchise.

Straeuli admitted he was aware of problems that occurred during the team’s month-long tour of Europe – which include reports of “undernourished meals” and match jerseys going missing.

Straeuli told @rugby365com this week that he is not about to sweep any perceived administrative issues and player unhappiness under the carpet.

The most vociferous grievances are directed at the CEO, Straeuli, coach Ivan van Rooyen and Tracy van Ginkel, the manager of Contracts and Operations at the Lions Rugby Company.

* To recap all the Ellis Park drama, CLICK HERE!

Tries from Sanele Nohamba, Francke Horn, Manuel Rass, Edwill Van Der Merwe and Ruan Venter put the hosts in a commanding position, but their ill discipline could have proved costly.

Van Der Merwe and Quan Horn both received yellow cards before Ruan Dreyer was shown a red and Glasgow responded as Tom Jordan and Thomas Gordon added to earlier tries from Eli Caven and Carl Forbes.

But with Gianni Lombard supplementing the score with two conversions and two penalties, the hosts had enough to hold on.

Glasgow started well as Sam Johnson, making his 100th Warriors appearance, burst through a gap from a line-out to send Caven over.

Forbes went close to adding another but was stopped short and the Lions hit back with four tries in quick succession.

The first came after Van Der Merwe broke down the left and stepped inside to release Nohamba and another quickly followed as Francke Horn pounced on a Warriors handling error.

Rass barged through two tackles to claim a third before Warriors No.8 Sione Vailanu was sin-binned for a bad tackle after the Lions had halted a counter-attack.

The Lions secured their bonus point before half-time as Lombard found Van Der Merwe out wide with a looping pass.

The first period ended scrappily as the Lions misjudged the restart and Matthews gathered to set up Forbes, but Glasgow then made a similar mistake. This time Johnson dropped the ball and Lombard made it 27-14 at the interval.

The Lions lost Van Der Merwe to the sin bin for an infringement in a tackle but it did not hold back the hosts as Venter - playing after the death of his father this week - burrowed over for an emotional try.

The Warriors replied as Jordan scored on the right and Gordon was driven over from a line-out after Quan Horn was yellow-carded for a deliberate knock-on.

The Lions were hampered again as Dreyer was sent off for a dangerous challenge but Sibahle Maxwane produced a fine tackle to prevent Jamie Dobie from reducing the deficit further.

Another Lombard penalty gave the Lions breathing space and they held on to end a five-game losing run.

The scorers

For the Lions

Tries: Nohamba, Horn, Ras, Van der Merwe, Venter

Cons: Lombard 2

Pens: Lombard 2

For Glasgow Warriors

Tries: Caven, Forbes, Jordan, Gordon

Cons: Jordan 2

Red card: Ruan Dreyer (Lions, 66 - foul play, dangerous clear-out)

Yellow cards: Sione Vailanu (Glasgow Warriors, 34 - repeated infringements, offside), Edwill van der Merwe (Lions, 49 - cynical foul, illegal play in the tackle), Quan Horn (Lions, 57 - cynical foul, deliberate knock-on)

Teams

Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Sibahle Maxwane, 13 Manuel Rass, 12 Marius Louw (captain), 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Gianni Lombard, 9 Sanele Nohamba, 8 Francke Horn, 7 Emmanuel Tshituka, 6 Jaco Kriel, 5 Ruben Schoeman, 4 Ruan Venter, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 Pieter Botha, 1 Jean-Pierre Smith.

Replacements: 16 Morné Brandon, 17 Rynhardt Runsburger, 18 Ruan Dreyer, 19 Ruhan Delport, 20 Ruhan Straeuli, 21 Morné van den Berg, 22 Rynhardt Jonker, 23 Andries Coetzee.

Glasgow: 15 Josh McKay, 14 Cole Forbes, 13 Stafford McDowall (captain), 12 Sam Johnson, 11 Eli Caven, 10 Tom Jordan, 9 Jamie Dobie, 8 Sione Vailanu, 7 Rory Darge, 6 Ally Miller, 5 Scott Cummings, 4 Lewis Bean , 3 Lucio Sordoni, 2 Johnny Matthews, 1 Nathan McBeth.

Replacements: 16 Angus Fraser, 17 Allan Dell, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Jean-Pierre du Preez, 20 Euan Ferrie, 21 Thomas Gordon, 22 Sean Kennedy, 23 Duncan Weir.

Referee: Adam Jones (Wales)

Assistant referees: AJ Jacobs (South Africa), Stephan Geldenhuys (South Africa)

TMO: Ian Davies (Wales)

* Additional reporting by @URCOfficial