By Brenden Nel.
The Emirates Lions withstood a massive comeback from the Dragons in the second half as they held out for a 30-25 win in their European Challenge Cup Pool B match in Ystrad Mynach on Sunday.
The Lions were cruising at 30-5 ahead just after the break but the Dragons bench, coupled with momentum and a number of home side calls, saw the Dragons come back to almost clinch the victory.
The win sees the Lions get home ground advantage in the round of 16, where they’re set to play French giants Racing 92 while the Dragons will face either Toulon or Glasgow in the next round.
But for all the drama the Lions should never have come close to losing the game, especially as they were in control before taking their foot off the gas and allowing the Dragons to steal their momentum.
Jordan Hendrikse kicked 20 points with the boot as the Lions played close to the perfect first half to rack up the big lead. It may not have been the perfect kicking performance – Hendrikse missed a few kicks as well – but it was enough to grab him the man of the match award.
Hendrikse opened the scoring with a penalty, but it was the flyhalf Will Reed who scored first after the Dragons camped on the Lions line before sending it wide for Reed to be the extra man and go over.
Hendrikse added another penalty to retake the lead and a double punch saw the Lions surge ahead with two quick tries that turned the game in their favour.
First it was a mini break by Marius Louw, whose pass found Quan Horn on the wing and allowed the youngster to run in for their first try.
Then it was a beautiful take from the kickoff by Darrian Landsberg, who shifted the ball to prop JP Smith, whose break was masterful before sending the perfect pass to a flying Edwill van der Merwe to run 40 metres to score.
Suddenly the scoreline ballooned to 18-5 and Hendrikse’s boot punished the Dragons in the rest of the half with three more penalties to leave the Lions 27-5 ahead at the break.
Another penalty shortly after halftime took them to a 25 point lead, but when the substitutes came on it was the Lions who lost both concentration and momentum, and allowed the Dragons back into the game.
It was first Aki Seiuli who went over from close range and then the Dragons, smelling blood, hit again with Jordan Williams exploiting a poor defensive read by Louw to saunter in untouched.
Finally Rio Dyer brought them within touching distance by stretching over the line with Van der Merwe and Emmanuel Tshituka trying to stop him.
JJ Hanrahan missed the conversion but added a late penalty and the Lions were on the defensive with the clock ticking down.
They held out but only just, and will be sighing with relief after getting four vital points that will see them play at home in the next round.
Scorers
Dragons – tries: Will Reed, Aki Seiuli, Jordan Williams, Rio Dyer. Conversion: Will Reed. Penalty: JJ Hanrahan.
Emirates Lions – tries: Quan Horn, Edwill van der Merwe. Conversion: Jordan Hendrikse. Penalties: Hendrikse (6).