Lions centre Henco van Wyk tries to power through the Stormers during their United Rugby Championship match at Ellis Park.
Image: Backpagepix
The Lions mauled an out-of-sorts Stormers side in round 12 of the United Rugby Championship at Ellis Park on Saturday afternoon, despite being reduced to 13 men in the closing stages.
A clinical kicking game, orchestrated by Springbok scrumhalf Morne van den Berg, helped lay the platform for the 24-10 victory, as did a sterling rearguard defensive effort.
The visitors from the Cape looked a shadow of their usual, fluid selves; the likes of Leolin Zas and fly-half Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu were frequently isolated and targeted with contestable kicks in the first half. In the face of this aerial bombardment, handling errors mounted and the Stormers' play grew increasingly scrappy.
Lions wing Angelo Davids, who chased with great intent all afternoon, did well to gather a high ball and set flanker Siba Mahashe away to gallop over the whitewash in the 22nd minute.
They claimed their second try just three minutes later, as the livewire Henco van Wyk pounced on a loose ball following more excellent work off the boot — first from Van den Berg and then winger Kelly Mpeku.
Their third try — scored by Erich Cronje in the second half — was the perfect response to a Feinberg-Mngomezulu penalty. It came courtesy of a sublime ball over the top by Van den Berg to find skipper Francke Horn out on the left wing, who timed his offload to perfection.
A Stormers maul try was subsequently ruled out for obstruction, but JD Schickerling would not be denied as the visitors finally began to grow into the contest. Jordan Hendrikse responded with a successful penalty for the Lions to stretch the lead.
The drama intensified late on when a yellow card for Lions flanker Sibabalo Qoma was quickly followed by another for replacement forward Conraad van Vuuren (which was later upgraded to red).
However, the hosts did brilliantly to absorb the pressure and secure the 24-10 victory, while the Stormers huffed and puffed to no avail.
Point-scorers:
Lions 24 (14) — Tries: Mahashe, Van Wyk, Cronje. Conversions: Smith (3).
Stormers 10 (0) — Try: Schickerling. Conversion: Feinberg-Ngomezulu. Penalty: Feinberg-Ngomezulu.