Lions, Dragons share spoils

Emirates Lions replacement flyhalf Jordan Hendrikse missed a 60-metre match-winning penalty at the death, forcing the Johannesburg team to share the points in a 31-31 against the Welsh Dragons in their European Challenge Cup match on Saturday.

The draw was probably the fairest result in a ding-dong game that saw the lead change several times, and which both sides had a chance to win.

Lions winger Edwill van der Merwe scored a brace as the Lions roared back in the second half, but it wasn’t enough to get his side the victory against a game Dragons side who will feel happy with the draw, given they lost at the same venue two weeks ago.

The end result will feel a lot like a loss for the Lions, although both sides get three valuable points out of the match while the Dragons came so close to their first win in the Republic.

For the Lions, a late yellow card for an attempted trip stunted their momentum when prop JP Smith was forced from the field for 10 minutes, but they will have to relook their own defence as they missed several crucial tackles that gave their opposition momentum.

The Welshmen looked a lot more comfortable on the highveld than other teams and seem to have worked out how to counter the Lions' style of play quite well. Their flyhalf Sam Davies could have stolen the game with a drop goal in the last 10 minutes as well, which drifted wide.

It was the Dragons that struck early as Jordan Williams crossed after flanker Matthew Screech broke an ineffective tackle to put his fullback away, but the Lions hit back almost immediately after several forays close to the line before sending the ball wide for Gianni Lombard to corkscrew out of a tackle and score.

Dragons scrumhalf Rhodri Williams, who was a thorn in the Lions flesh for a long time in the match, scored midway in the first half, sniping from a ruck close to the line to go over.

The Lions then scored through a rolling maul, with prop Asenathi Ntlabakanye getting the nod from the TMO in a decision that had to be reviewed.

Williams put the Dragons ahead at the break with a snipe close to the line before popping the ball to Davies, who completed the score.

But the Lions roared back in the second half, as winger Edwill van der Merwe discovered space and played a vital supporting role to put them ahead.

The first came from collecting a grubber from Hendrikse to score and then his second came from a trademark Jaco Kriel break, with the flanker being stopped close to the line before popping the ball up for Van der Merwe to score the try.

Williams set up the fourth try as he showed a beauty of a dummy to then break and set up Jack Dixon to score in the corner, levelling the scores again.

Both sides tried desperately to break the deadlock, with Hendrikse’s penalty the closest the Lions came, but in the end, both had to settle for the draw.

SCORERS

Emirates Lions - tries: Gianni Lombard, Asenathi Ntlabakanye, Edwill van der Merwe (2). Conversions: Lombard (2), Jordan Hendrikse (2). Penalty: Lombard

Dragons - tries: Jordan Williams, Rhodri Williams, Sam Davies, Jack Dixon. Conversions: Davies (4). Penalty: Davies