An inexperienced Lions team scored an important 47-39 win against the Jaguares at Ellis Park on Saturday. JON CARDINELLI reports.
The Lions came into this clash on the back of two bad losses – to the Stormers and Bulls. Their chances of bouncing back were compromised – or at least some suspected – when coach Swys de Bruin made seven changes to the starting XV ahead of the game against the Jaguares.
Talk about the perfect response. The Lions scored seven tries against a Jaguares side with very little appetite for defence. De Bruin was reward for his faith in a number of young individuals as well as several untried combinations.
The senior players that were retained stood up, though. The Lions front row made a statement as the hosts dominated the scrums and ultimately set the platform for some vital territorial gains and scoring chances. Kwagga Smith and Marnus Schoeman had a busy afternoon at the breakdown.
Elton Jantjies took some good options on attack. The Lions flyhalf – who surpassed the 1000-point milestone in this fixture – finished the game with a personal haul of 17 points.
Junior Boks star Wandile Simelane had an afternoon to remember. The No 13 started the match in the worst possible fashion when he threw a wayward pass that resulted in a five-metre scrum for the opposition. After that, Simelane proved one of the Jaguares’ chief tormentors.
The 20-year-old summed up the situation well to get the ball wide to Sylvian Mahuza, who in turn found Smith for the finish. When Simelane collected a loose ball on his own 10-metre line, he shifted through the gears very quickly to out-strip the defence and record his first Super Rugby try for the Lions.
The Jaguares scored before the break, but the Lions were still in front 26-13 at the half-time whistle.
The hosts began the second stanza with a bang. Flanker Vincent Tshituka showed exceptional pace to take play deep into Jaguares territory and set up Courtnall Skosan for a try. The winger grabbed his second shortly after that.
The Jaguares fought hard to finish the game with six tries. The late surge by the visitors denied the Lions what would have been a deserved bonus point.
Lions – Tries: Rhyno Herbst, Elton Jantjies, Kwagga Smith, Wandisile Simelane, Marnus Schoeman, Courtnall Skosan (2). Conversion: Jantjies (6).
Jaguares – Tries: Ramiro Moyano, Julian Montoya (2), Gaspar Baldunciel, Matias Moroni, Joaquín Tuculet. Conversions: Joaquin Diaz Bonilla, Juan Cruz Mallia (2). Penalty: Diaz Bonilla.
Lions – 15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Sylvian Mahuza, 13 Wandisile Simelane, 12 Franco Naude, 11 Courtnall Skosan, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Ross Cronje, 8 Kwagga Smith, 7 Vincent Tshituka, 6 Marnus Schoeman, 5 Rhyno Herbst, 4 Ruan Vermaak, 3 Carlu Sadie, 2 Malcom Marx (c), 1 Dylan Smith
Subs: 16 Pieter Jansen, 17 Nathan McBeth, 18 Frans van Wyk, 19 Stephan Lewies, 20 James Venter, 21 Dillon Smit, 22 Harold Vorster, 23 Gianni Lombard/Tyrone Green
Jaguares – 15 Joaquín Tuculet (c), 14 Sebastian Cancelliere, 13 Matias Moroni, 12 Bautista Ezcurra, 11 Emiliano Boffelli, 10 Joaquin Diaz Bonilla, 9 Martin Landajo, 8 Rodrigo Bruni, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 5 Matias Alemanno, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Enrique Pieretto, 2 Julian Montoya, 1 Juan Pablo Zeiss.
Subs: 16 Gaspar Baldunciel, 17 Santiago Garcia Botta, 18 Santiago Medrano, 19 Tomas Lavanini, 20 Tomas Lezana, 21 Tomas Cubelli, 22 Juan Cruz Mallia, 23 Ramiro Moyano.
Photo: Gavin Barker/BackpagePix
