Lions bounce back to beat Benetton: Three talking points

The Lions got back to winning ways with a 37-29 bonus point win over Benetton in their United Rugby Championship clash at Ellis Park on Saturday afternoon.

It was an entertaining but scrappy game that showed why both sides are in the lower half of the table, with plenty of mistakes from both teams, but the Lions emerged victorious in the end, outscoring Benetton five tries to four.

Here are three key talking points from the match.

Lions yellow allows Benetton to come back

The Lions conceded a costly yellow card that cost them massive momentum after having a good start to the match. Lions flyhalf Jordan Hendrikse had to go to the bin in the first half with his team 8-3 up. Benetton fullback Rhyno Smith had taken a quick tap 5m out from the line and Hendrikse cynically made a high tackle on him without retreating, although Smith still made it over the line. By the time Hendrikse got back on the pitch Benetton were 17-8 ahead with the Lions on the back foot which saw them go even further behind shortly after as Smith ran in his second try for a 22-8 lead.

Lax play from Benetton brings Lions back into match

Some extremely lax play from Benetton at the end of the first half and start of the second allowed the Lions to fight back into the match. When the half-time hooter went with the Lions in possession, the visitors led 22-8. However a couple of penalties allowed the Lions to get into the Benetton 5m and another penalty ended with scrumhalf Morne van den Bergh taking a quick tap and getting over. Straight from the kick-off at the start of the second, Lions eighthman Francke Horn broke through the defence, put inside centre Burger Odendaal away down the line and he drew a defender and offloaded to Edwill van der Merwe to sprint in and score, drawing the sides level at 22-all.

Benetton yellow gives Lions daylight

At 22-all in the 53rd minute and the match firmly in the balance, Benetton flank Manuel Zuliani made an ugly tip tackle on right wing Stean Pienaar that ended up swinging the match back into the home side’s favour. During his 10 minutes off the pitch the Lions managed to dot down through Pienaar in the corner, while Joran Hendrikse danced his way over next to the uprights, giving the Lions a comfortable 34-22 lead, which left Benetton with too much to do in the final quarter of the game as they finished well short.

Scorers

Lions: Tries – Ruben Schoeman, Morne van den Bergh, Edwill van der Merwe, Stean Pienaar, Jordan Hendrikse. Conversions – Jordan Hendrikse (3). Penalties – Jordan Hendrikse (2)

Benetton: Tries – Rhyno Smith (2), Fillipo Drago, Lorenzo Cannone. Conversions – Rhyno Smith (3). Drop Goal – Tomas Albornoz