Leinster end Lions' play-off dream in dramatic fashion
URC REPORT: Leinster debutant Sam Prendergast landed a last-minute penalty to snatch a 39-36 win over the Lions at Ellis Park on Saturday.
The Lions looked full of promise. The hosts had a 36-21 lead in the last quarter and had the Leinster side under the pump for most of the match.
*To recap all the action CLICK HERE!!!
However, a frantic period in the closing stages of the match saw Leinster score a try and a late penalty for the win.
The result means the Lions' play-off comes to a heartbreaking conclusion.
Leinster had an incredible start. The Georgian prop Vakhtang Abdaladze bulldozed three defenders for the first try of the match. Debutant Sam Prendergast added the extras.
The Irish giants put the Lions under huge pressure in the opening minutes. However, some great defence by the hosts kept the visitors at bay, which gave Lions tremendous confidence.
Ivan Van Rooyen's men finally got inside Leinster's half and Lions wing Edwill van Merwe stepped his way over the whitewash after a pop pass by Jaco Kriel.
The momentum really shifted as the Lions gradually worked their way into the match.
They then took the lead when Gianni Lombard picked a loose ball, kicked it down the field twice, before gathering it for the score. Sanele Nohamba added the extras for the 12-0 lead.
Leinster looked threatening. And after Max Deegan was held up behind the line, Leinster finally hit back. Liam Turner found a gap and dotted down for the 14-12 lead.
The Lions replied with pure class. Superb interplay between Van Der Merwe, who sold the defence for a dummy, and Nohamba made sure captain Marius Louw got his name on the scoresheet.
Francke Horn showed some incredible individual brilliance when he sidestepped his way past defenders to the try-line.
The Lions produced a solid first half and took a 26-14 lead to the lockers.
In the second stanza, the lead was quickly cut to just five as Michael Milne powered over the line from the ruck for the first points of the half.
However, Nohamba handed the Lions an eight-point lead with a penalty.
And then the drama unfolded as Leinster went down to 13 men and conceded a penalty try.
They found themselves trailing 21-36 in the last quarter of the match with the Lions in control.
However, complacency showed its ugly head and gradually Leinster started to dominate the show.
Leinster flyhalf Prendergast added a penalty which instigated a tremendous comeback.
The flyhalf then produced a cross kick which saw wing Rob Russell score, while fullback Chris Cosgrove levelled matters with his try.
It was a dramatic end as Leinster continued to attack and eventually was rewarded with a penalty which Prendergast slotted to keep his team's perfect record intact.
Man of the match: Leinster flyhalf Sam Prendergast pulled the strings for the Irish and his accurate kicking game was at the heart of their superb comeback.
The scorers:
For Lions
Tries: Van Der Merwe, Lombard, Louw, Horne, Penalty try
Cons: Nohamba 3, Penalty try does not require a conversion
Pens: Nohamba
For Leinster:
Tries: Abdaladze, Turner, Milne, Russell, Cosgrave
Cons: Prendergast 4
Pens: Prendergast
Yellow card: Nick McCarthy (Leinster, 55 - infringement), Chris Cosgrave (Leinster, 58 - offside)
Teams:
Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Stean Pienaar, 13 Manuel Rass, 12 Marius Louw (captain), 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Gianni Lombard, 9 Sanele Nohamba, 8 Francke Horn, 7 Ruan Delport, 6 Jacobus Kriel, 5 Ruben Schoeman, 4 Willem Alberts, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 Pieter Botha, 1 Rhynardt Rijnsburger.
Replacements: 16 Morné Brandon, 17 Jean-Pierre Smith, 18 Ruan Dreyer, 19 Darrien Landsberg, 20 Travis Gordon, 21 Morné van den Berg, 22 Rynhardt Jonker, 23 Andries Coetzee.
Leinster: 15 Chris Cosgrave, 14 Tommy O’Brien, 13 Liam Turner, 12 Ben Brownlee, 11 Dave Kearney, 10 Sam Prendergast, 9 Nick McCarthy, 8 Max Deegan, 7 Will Connors, 6 Rhys Ruddock (captain), 5 Jason Jenkins, 4 Brian Deeny, 3 Vakhtang Abdaladze, 2 Lee Barron, 1 Michael Milne
Replacements: 16 Tadgh McElroy, 17 Ed Byrne, 18 Thomas Clarkson, 19 Alex Soroka, 20 James Culhane, 21 Ben Murphy, 22 Charlie Tector, 23 Rob Russell
Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Morne Ferreira (South Africa), Stephan Geldenhuys (South Africa)
TMO: David Sutherland (Scotland)