By Lucky Vince Pienaar
➤ The Lions produced a first-half display of breathtaking rugby at Ellis Park that would have given rugby fans anywhere in the world a real kick.
It’s wrong to highlight individual players as they were all at the top of their game, but the back three with Quan Horn, Rabz Maxwane and the fit-again Edwill van der Merwe, ran rings around the entire Edinburgh team. Between the three of them, they scored five tries in the first 40 minutes.
The Edinburgh team, a classy outfit that included players like Jamie Ritchie, Pierre Schoeman and Darcy Graham, were left wondering where the ball was.
By the time the halftime hooter went, the Lions had scored 48 points and seven tries, with Edinburgh unable to score any points in reply.
To their credit, Edinburgh fought back bravely in the second half and scored three tries when the Lions weren’t watching, but by then, the match was all but over.
Lions 55 (8 tries); Edinburgh 21 (3 tries).
Lions tries: Quan Horn, Rabz Maxwane (3), Edwill Van Der Merwe (2), Rynhardt Jonker,
Francke Horn.
Edinburgh tries: Grant Gilchrist, Patrick Harrison, Ben Muncaster.
➤ The Bulls’ Kurt-Lee Arendse started the match with a perfect dummy that left the entire Ulster backline wondering where the ball was, but when Jacob Stockdale scored a long-range try immediately afterwards, it looked like it could be a close match. But the Bulls had other plans.
Outscoring Ulster by seven tries to three, the Bulls ran the opposition off their feet.
Bulls 47 (7 tries); Ulster 21 (3 tries).
Bulls tries: Kurt-Lee Arendse, David Kriel, Johan Grobbelaar, Canan Moodie, Cameron Hanekom, Boeta Chamberlain, Elrigh Louw.
Ulster tries: Jacob Stockdale, Ben Carson, Stewart Moore.
➤ Yes, the South African teams won all four matches, but the Sharks were lucky to beat the Dragons, scoring a debatable try after the hooter sounded.
While they fought hard in the last minutes of the match, the Sharks always seem to be standing around waiting for their Springboks to come and rescue them. Who knows what the Sharks have to do to get some passion and fire into their team? Neither John Plumtree or Neil Powell appear to have any answers.
Sharks 33 (5 tries); Dragons 30 (4 tries).
Dragons tries: Taine Basham, Chris Coleman, Rhodri Williams, Ben Carter.
Sharks tries: Vincent Tshituka, Jaden Hendrikse, Jurenzo Julies, Ethan Hooker, Fezokuhle Mbatha.
➤ While Zebre Parma manned up pretty well in the first part of the match (the first try of the game coming after 39 minutes), the Stormers played them into the ground with methodical, dominant play in the second half.
Coach John Dobson will be happy with the win, but not very happy with the somewhat predictable play that got his team an easy victory.
Stormers 36 (4 tries); Zebre 5 (1 try).
Stormers tries: Leolin Zas (2), Suleiman Hartzenberg, Angelo Davids.
Zebre try: Simone Gesi.
Pictured above: Henco van Wyk and Rabz Maxwane celebrate Rabz’s hat-trick.
Source: Lions Rugby
