Friendly - Lions vs EP on 10 March 2021
March 10, 2021 - The match was played in Port Elizabeth on Wednesday 10 March 2021, kick-off was at 16:45 SA Time.
Eastern Province Lock Arnold Kleyn received a red card very early in the match for a high tackle on Manny Rass. This put the Eastern Province scrum under pressure and they conceded a penalty try from a scrum close to their line in the 15th minute.
Christopher Hollis then scored a great try for the home team when the Lions kicked a ball out on the halfway line, EP took a quick throw and caught the Lions defenders off guard, with Hollis taking the ball just before the ten metre line and then beating just one defender to score the try.
On 20 minutes the Lions scored a maul try by Hooker Dameon Venter, but just six minutes later Eastern Province answered with another try, it came from a ruck close to the Lions line, the ball went wide to the left and with the Lions defense bunched close to the ruck, allowed the try for the home team.
Ten minutes from half time the Lions scored their 3rd try, with Luke Rossouw going over from a ball that went down the right from a ruck close to the EP line. This made the halftime score 21-12 for the Lions.
Early in the second half the Lions Prop McBeth scored from a maul.
Then with about 30 minutes left in the match, CJ Velleman received a second yellow card, which meant a red card for him and EP down to 13 players. The Lions opted for the scrum on the spot as it was 5 metres from the EP try-line, and got their second penalty try from the scrum.
EP then had a line-out close to the Lions try-line, but the Lions stole the ball as it was slapped down, but into their in-goal area, where reserve Hooker Robin Stevens got to the ball first and scored.
EP scored again when the Lions threw and intercept pass on the halfway line, and Winnaar ran in the try untouched. This made the score 33-24 for the Lions.
The Lions then scored three very quick tries in the last four minutes of the match to make the score more respectable, but all in all this was a poor match from the Lions against what could be considered close to an amateur side.
Officials
Referee: AJ Jacobs
AR1: Sean Miller
AR2: Phumzile Mbewu
TMO: Christie du Preez
Teams
EP: 15 Courtney Winnaar (captain), 14 Qeutyne Oerson, 13 Athi Mayinje, 12 Sherwin Slater, 11 Christopher Hollis, 10 Karlo Aspeling, 9 Josh Alldermann, 8 Zingisa April, 7 Anele Lungisa, 6 CJ Velleman, 5 Arnold Kleyn, 4 Athenkosi Khetani, 3 Emile Klaassen, 2 Sithembiso Befile, 1 Siya Nzuzo.
Replacements: 16 Robin Stevens, 17 Lyle Lombard, 18 Lupumlo Mgcuca, 19 Mncedisi Dlwengu, 20 Bevin Prinsloo, 21 Diego Williams, 22 Wian van der Sandt, 23 Riaan Arends.
Lions: 15. Divan Rossouw; 14. Prince Nkabinde, 13. Manuel Rass, 12. James Mollentze, 11. Ngia Selengbe; 10. Tiaan Swanepoel, 9. Dillon Smit; 8. Ruhan Straeuli, 7. Sibusiso Sangweni, 6. Mark Snyman, 5. Reinhard Nothnagel (capt), 4. Ruben Schoeman, 3. Wiehahn Herbst, 2. Dameon Venter, 1. Nathan McBeth.
Replacements: 16. Morné Brandon, 17. Banele Mthenjane, 18. Asenathi Nthlabakanye, 19. Mandisi Mtiyane, 20. Izan Esterhuizen, 21. Morné van den Berg, 22. Jordan Hendrikse, 23. Luke Rossouw
Scorers
EP: 24 (12): Tries: Christopher Hollis, Zingisa April, Robin Stevens, Courtney Winnaar. Conversions: Karlo Aspeling (2). Penalties:
Lions: 54 (21): Tries: Penalty try (2), Dameon Venter, Luke Rossouw, Nathan McBeth, Sibusiso Sangweni, Banele Mthenjane, Ngia Selengbe. Conversions: Tiaan Swanepoel (2), Jordan Hendrikse (3). Penalties: