Can’t rule Lions out of title race

The Lions’ dominant 52-31 Super Rugby victory over the Stormers at Ellis Park on Saturday sent out the strong message that they are head and shoulders above all the South African teams in the competition, and that they can’t be written off as serious title contenders just yet.

Four sensational tries from wing Madosh Tambwe, including a hat-trick inside the first 13 minutes, set up the win for the home side and the Stormers couldn’t find an answer, even though they made the scoreline a bit more respectable with two late tries.

It hasn’t been the best few weeks for the Lions as they surprisingly crashed to the Blues at home after a second half meltdown, just edged past the brave Sunwolves and then lost to the Jaguares in Argentina and the Crusaders at Ellis Park on Easter weekend.

But Saturday’s powerful performance against the Stormers proved that the Lions, back-to-back runners-up, are back on track ahead of their tricky road trip when they will face the Waratahs, Reds, Hurricanes and Highlanders after next week’s bye.

The Lions, who last lost to a South African team in 2015, are on top of the overall standings with 25 points but have played more games than the chasing pack.

Coach Swys de Bruin has earned a well-deserved break next week.

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