The Emirates Lions produced a clinical display to outplay the Southern Kings 54-10 in their Vodacom Super Rugby match on May 28 at Emirates Airlines Park in Johannesburg, despite playing with 14 men for 50 minutes of the match.
Hooker Robbie Coetzee was red-carded for foul play, meaning the red jerseys had to complete the match with just 14 players. However, this setback made no difference to the energetic Highveld side, who dominated the breakdown and possession to beat the Kings by a comprehensive margin after leading 19-3 at half-time.
The rampant home side outscored the Eastern Cape visitors by eight tries to one, with Kwagga Smith (2), Andries Ferreira, Courtnall Skosan, Malcolm Marx, Jacques van Rooyen, Faf de Klerk and Andries Coetzee all crossing over.
Warren Whiteley’s team is currently on a 10-game winning run. The last and only time any South African team has won more games in succession was a 12-game winning streak by the Vodacom Bulls across the 2009 and 2010 campaigns. They have only lost one of their 13 matches so far this season.
In other matches featuring South African sides over the weekend, the Cell C Sharks won their coastal derby 22-10 against the DHL Stormers on Saturday afternoon in Durban. Earlier, the Vodacom Bulls went down 34-20 to the Hurricanes in Pretoria, while the Toyota Cheetahs outplayed the Sunwolves 47-7 in Tokyo.
The Cell C Sharks gave a strong defensive display to stifle the DHL Stormers and register a deserving home victory. They kept the Cape visitors scoreless in the first half of this physical derby to lead 15-0 at the break. Johan Deysel and Stephan Lewies each scored a try, while Garth April added a penalty and one conversion. SP Marais scored all the DHL Stormers’ points in the second half via converted try and a penalty.
Young speedster Sbu Nkosi scored the decisive try in the second half when he showed an impressive burst of speed to score under the poles.
The Vodacom Bulls suffered a reverse against the Hurricanes despite putting on a fighting display at Loftus Versfeld. The ‘Canes outscored the home side by five tries to two.
The Toyotas Cheetahs overpowered the Sunwolves 47-7 in their Tokyo clash. It was the Free Staters’ first win since March 11, when they also defeated the Sunwolves in Bloemfontein. They secured seven tries to one to earn a bonus-point win, but the gritty home side restricted them to a 14-0 lead at half-time. Springbok flanker Uzair Cassiem scored twice for the visitors.
The other round 14 results:
May 26
Blues 16, Chiefs 16
Reds 26, Force 40
May 27
Highlanders 44, Waratahs 28
Rebels 19, Crusaders 41
Jaguares 15, Brumbies 39
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