Challenge Cup wrap: Mixed weekend for Lions and Cheetahs

It was a mixed weekend in the Challenge Cup for the Lions and Cheetahs, as the Lions claimed a decent 30-12 bonus point win over Stade Francais, while the Cheetahs went down in a heavy 45-26 defeat to Scarlets.

Having drawn their opening match a week earlier it was important for the Lions to bounce back with a win, which they managed comfortably and picked up the bonus point to boot thanks to a strong start to the match.

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Two tries to wing Quan Horn in the first 26 minutes, and the unerring boot of flyhalf Jordan Hendrikse saw them race into a 20-0 lead.

A solid fightback from Stade Francais then put the brakes on the Lions, with the score going into the last 10 minutes 25-12, but the home side managed to clinch the bonus point in the 75^th minute with a try to replacement prop Ruan Smith.

“Five points against a team that is currently third in the French Top 14 is a good result,” said Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen.

“They didn’t bring a full strength team but they still had some quality players here. They brought some strong Georgian forwards. They had some tall lanky backline players who are dangerous if you don’t stop their momentum because they look to offload and get their game going.

“So we will take the five points against Stade Francais any day.”

Wake-up call

For the Cheetahs they received a wake-up call after their winning start to the competition against Pau in France last weekend was followed up by a heavy loss to Scarlets.

The Cheetahs unfortunately don’t really have a home fixture because part of the deal that saw them invited to play in the Challenge Cup was that they are based in Europe, so they played their home match against Scarlets in Parma, Italy.

After opening the scoring in the match the Cheetahs then watched in horror as Scarlets tore into a 38-7 lead at half-time.

The Cheetahs then produced a decent comeback in the second half to reduce the deficit to 38-26 with five minutes to go, but a late converted try to Scarlets made sure of their win.