URC result: Benetton down sloppy Lions

The Lions’ chances of reaching the United Rugby Championship playoffs are over after they crashed to a disappointing 42-31 defeat to Italian side Benetton at Ellis Park on Saturday afternoon.

With just three regular season matches remaining for the Joburg-side, all at home, the Lions have no chance of finishing inside the top eight, for the fourth season in a row.

This was the Lions’ fourth defeat in a row in the URC while in the last few weeks they have also been bundled out of the Challenge Cup competition.

Ivan van Rooyen’s men delivered an error-strewn game on Saturday afternoon, punctuated by poor handling, ill-discipline and bad decision-making. They remain 14th on the points table with 31 points, thanks to the bonus point picked up on Saturday for scoring three tries.

Benetton temporarily moved into fifth place after collecting five log points.

Five tries to four

Benetton lost three men to the sin-bin for various offences in the second half, and the Lions only managed to score a converted try by Edwill van der Merwe during the time the visitors were reduced to playing with 13 men and then 14 men.

Benetton also edged the home team in the set-pieces, particularly in the scrums while their backline play was far superior to the home team’s. In all, Benetton scored five tries, while the Lions got four.

In a high-scoring affair, Benetton went 22-3 up after 23 minutes thanks to three tries to set the tone for their performance, before the Lions hit back with tries by Ruan Venter and Marius Louw. At half-time, Benetton led 32-17.

And that lead ballooned to 39-17 soon after the restart following a fifth converted try, but tries by Van der Merwe, in the 61st minute, and JC Pretorius, in the 77th minute, to a penalty by Benetton’s Jacob Umaga, left the score at 42-31 for the visitors.