Brandon's try gives Lions hard-earned victory

A late try by supersub Morne Brandon gave the Lions some hope of resurrecting their campaign in the EPCR Challenge Cup with a hard-earned 42-33 win over French side Lyon in Johannesburg on Saturday.

The Lions get their first victory of this season's #ChallrngrCupRugby 🕺✅#SSRugby pic.twitter.com/9HpSqcJTfx

Brandon’s try was the perfect end for a hard-grind for the Lions - as always they seemed to control the game yet live in the spectre of losing it at the end, as they have done so many times before.

Yet, this time, against a Lyon side that hasn’t won a game in the Challenge Cup, the Lions finally triumphed.

It gave them a victory to follow up on their win over the Sharks a week previously and enough hope to believe that if they can win in Perpignan next weekend, they may stay alive in Europe.

But for the most part it was a frustrating night for the Lions. Again they seemed to dominate the play and were always in the lead, but they made countless errors, allowing Lyon back into the game and were under pressure until Brandon’s try to try and get the result.

Player of the Match 🏆
A try on debut 🔥
The script writes itself.
Welcome to the Lions, Batho. 🦁#ChallengeCupRugby | #ForOurCity | #LIOvLYO#LionsPride pic.twitter.com/wwyggymUUf — Lions (@LionsRugbyCo) January 10, 2026

One positive was the performance of SA under-20 star Batho Hlekani, who was named man of the match after being a late replacement for Siba Qoma.

Hlekani scored the opening try for the Lions after a backhanded pass from Morne van den Berg and excelled throughout the game, putting in some big runs to show his worth for his new team.

Despite Lyon replying through Charly Mignot, Richard Kriel added the second and Quan Horn added the third to take control of the game.

Renzo du Plessis went over for the bonus point try still in the first half, before Alexandre Tchaptchet pulled one back to keep Lyon in touch by halftime.

A long range try by Esteban Gonzalez brought the French side back into the game early in the second half but the Lions immediately replied through Angelo Davids, who latched onto the overhead chip from Van den Berg to extend the Lions’ lead.

Lyon came storming back through tries by Hooker Mathis Sarragallet and Alfred Parisien to make it a two point game.

The Lions were tense going into the last few minutes before their attack rumbled upfield, and Brandon went over to secure the win.

A collective sigh went up around Ellis Park as the final whistle went.

Scorers

Lions - tries: Batho Hlekani, Richard Kriel, Quan Horn, Renzo du Plessis, Angelo Davids, Morne Brandon. Conversions: Chris Smith (6)

Lyon - tries: Charly Mignot, Alexandre Tchaptchet, Esteban Gonzalez, Mathis Sarragallet, Alfred Parisien. Conversions: Paddy Jackson (4)