A hattrick of tries from Renzo du Plessis helped the Fidelity ADT Lions to a convincing 41-22 (halftime 28-8) Carling Currie Cup victory over DHL Western Province at Emirates Airlines Park in Johannesburg on Saturday afternoon.
The Lions flanker was outstanding in the opening stanza, with the visitors struggling to contain his strong running. The Lions dominated the scrums, especially in the second half as Western Province went backwards at a rate of knots.
Flyhalf Bronson Mills and fullback Quan Horn added tries to Du Plessis’ hat-trick, with Mills adding two conversions and two penalties while scrumhalf Nico Steyn added two penalties himself.
Province, who desperately sought a bonus-point try of their own at the death, managed three with a brace from winger JC Mars and substitute forward, Paul de Villiers while flyhalf Jurie Matthee added two conversions and a penalty.
The Lions were on the front foot from the get-go and were on the board as early as the fifth minute when the Lions moved the ball to the right after receiving a box kick. Great interplay from centre Rynhadrt Jonker and Du Plessis, saw the flanker barge his way past two defenders to score the opening try, but with a tight angle, Mills was unable to convert.
The sides traded penalties before Province showed some excellent skills with ball in hand as well as tap-passing between backs and forwards. The ball was eventually cycled to the right where centre Wandisile Simelane drew the last defender for Mars to go over untouched for an unconverted score.
LIONS TAKE IT UP A NOTCH
The Lions though kicked the match into another gear as Du Plessis and Mills scored to take the Lions into a 10-point lead. Right-wing Boldwin Hansen broke down the right-hand side of the field before offloading to Du Plessis, who was ankle-tapped just short of the line. But quick thinking and momentum from his teammates took him over the line for his second try.
Bronson Mills continues to impress for the Fidelity ADT Lions in the #CarlingCurrieCup 🌟 pic.twitter.com/c9qJjpG8VO
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) August 17, 2024
Just minutes later and the Lions were on the attack again, but this time the ball shifted left with Mills going over in the left-hand corner untouched. Mills added his second penalty before Du Plessis rounded off his hat-trick, collecting the ball off the back of a lineout close to the WP line to go over under the poles.
The home side was in no mood to take their foot off the accelerator in the second period. Stealing WP lineout ball, Horn booted the ball downfield, and brilliantly charged down fullback Luke Burger’s attempted clearance and dotting down just two minutes after the restart.
Steyn added three points from the halfway line to stretch the lead to 30 points, leaving the visitors with a mountain to climb. Province finally woke up and played with more intent, especially Matthee, who broke beautifully down the middle of the park to set the Lions on the backfoot.
Province spent almost 10 minutes trying to find a way through the Lions defence and eventually Mars broke through after an offload from scrumhalf Dewald Duvenage, to score 15 metres in from touch. Province’s constant pressure eventually told as Steyn was sin-binned after continual infringements from the home side.
With Steyn off the park and the Lions down to 14 men, the men from Cape Town tried their utmost to close the gap, but managed just a single score as Matthee again broke through the Lions’ backline with De Villiers rounding off close to the poles.
However, that was the last that Province could muster as Steyn added three more points to the cause. Despite both sides knocking and knocking, the final 16 minutes produced nothing more than end-to-end rugby but the Lions fans were elated when the final whistle blew.
The victory moves the Lions to within three points of the table-topping Vodacom Bulls after seven matches while Province, remain on 14 points with only two wins – both against the Novavit Griffons – from seven starts.
SCORERS
Fidelity ADT Lions – Tries: Renzo du Plessis (3), Bronson Mills, Quan Horn; Conversions: Mills (2); Penalties: Mills (2), Nico Steyn (2).
DHL Western Province – Tries: JC Mars (2), Paul de Villiers; Conversions: Jurie Matthee (2); Penalty: Matthee.