By Gavin Rich.
An excellent second try from No 8 Emmanuel Tshituka six minutes from time set the seal on a comprehensive 32-15 victory for the Emirates Lions over the Scarlets in their Vodacom United Rugby clash at Emirates Airlines Park on Sunday.
The Lions turned in a vastly improved performance on what they managed against the abrasive Dragons at the same venue the previous Sunday, but their tempo game wasn’t having quite the impact on the Scarlets as might have been hoped as the visitors kept the hosts to three tries heading into the 74th minute.
With flyhalf Jordan Hendrikse in the sin bin for having tapped a ball away near his own line when the Scarlets were going for a try of their own, the Lions were down to 14 men. Their chances of a bonus point to go with the win were disappearing into the rarified highveld atmosphere.
However, the Lions managed to get themselves into the Scarlets half and Tshituka powered his way through a few defenders before rounding the remaining man in his path and crossing near the right corner flag before running back to cut the angle for the conversion. The bonus point try was what the Lions would have been quite desperate for as it was what they deserved from their overall dominance. It was also a perfect way for the hard working Tshituka to cap a commanding man of the match performance.
Earlier he had driven off the back of an advancing scrum, with the referee’s arm out for penalty advantage, to force the ball down for the Lions’ second try. That was in the 20th minute and after following up a really good try eight minutes earlier that was sparked initially by Edwill van der Merwe’s decision to counter-attack from deep, then carried on by centre Marius Louw who unleashed a deft back pass that sent in Rabz Maxwane.
At that point it didn’t look as though the Lions would take until so late in the game to notch the bonus point. With their scrum dominant and the backs running well even in the absence of Henco van Wyk, who withdrew on the day of the game, the Scarlets looked stretched as they went behind 15-0 with a quarter of the match completed.?But for the rest of the first half the Lions went to sleep a bit, with Scarlets coming back with a driving maul try, and with the Lions losing a man for 10 minutes in the form of centre Sango Xamlashe, the man who replaced Venter and played an impressive game despite the yellow card. The Scarlets lost their playmaker Sam Costello to a yellow card shortly before halftime.
With the Lions leading 18-5 in a game played at altitude on a hot day, there really wasn’t much hope of Scarlets coming back from there. However, you might have expected the Lions put them away by more, and they had to wait until the 57th minute for their third try, which came off a sharp lineout ploy that saw the ball go to the back before being transferred inside for Jaco Kriel to go through a gap as wide as the Vaal Dam.
The Lions did get a chance when the Scarlets did have the ball to flex their other muscle that is showing signs of great improvement this year, meaning their defence. Ultimately, although a bit scrappy, the Lions can feel they delivered in most aspects of their game and will go into the two weeks of Challenge Cup action with some confidence before the URC resumes with their trip to the coast for two derbies over the Christmas/New Year week.
Scores:
Emirates Lions 32 – Tries: Rabz Maxwane, Emmanuel Tshituka 2 and Jaco Kriel; Conversions: Jordan Hendrikse 2 and Zander du Plessis; Penalties: Jordan Hendrikse 2.
Scarlets 15 – Tries: Dan Davis, Thomas Rogers and Sam Lausi.
It was a perfect round for the four South African teams in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship as the competition reached the halfway stage, with the local teams proving too strong for their Welsh visitors on a weekend that delivered 26 tries in the Republic.
The Cell C Sharks – bolstered by a bunch of returning Boks – bounced back from last weekend’s defeat and subsequent coaching changes to beat the Ospreys by 25-10 in Durban on Friday night.
SCORERS:
Cell C Sharks 25 (6) – Tries: Sikhumbuzo Notshe, Curwin Bosch, James Venter. Conversions: Bosch (2). Penalty goals: Bosch (2).
Ospreys 10 (0) – Tries: Luke Morgan, Morgan Morris.