The Emirates Lions bowed out of the EPCR Challenge Cup with a whimper and not a bang, going down rather tamely 24-12 to Scottish side Edinburgh in their Round of 16 knockout clash.
Considering the Lions put 50 points on Edinburgh earlier this season in their Vodacom United Rugby Championship clash, this was a win that would have satisfied Edinburgh coach Sean Everitt in totality.
The Lions were perhaps better than last week, but their lack of physicality, especially in the first half where they lost the collision battle, were beaten at the breakdown and were at sea on defence at times, made sure they went into the break 17-0 down.
Their second half was better and a late try to Jaco Visagie made the scoreline look a lot more respectable, but this was a game that was lost in the first 90 seconds where Edinburgh took the lead and never looked like losing.
A tough end to our EPCR Challenge Cup campaign.#EDIvLIO#ChallengeCupRugby pic.twitter.com/lODAqvOnsw
— Lions (@LionsRugbyCo) April 4, 2025
The very first attack - a simple loop around by the backline - found a big hole in the defence for Scottish international Darcy Graham to ghost through, before putting 50th-cap fullback Wes Goosen on his inside through to the line with the clock touching 73 seconds.
It was a massive start to the game and the Lions looked shell shocked, so much so that they struggled with their accuracy on attack and had to make do with scraps during play.
One player who did stand out in that half and throughout the game was lock Darrien Landsberg, who ended with the most carries by a Lions player and most tackles, putting in a massive workload for his team.
But he was often alone as Edinburgh dominated collisions and found ways of going forward.
If Edinburgh’s attack was more accurate the scoreline could easily have ballooned into a massive number.
Thankfully for the Lions they were gracious hosts and allowed themselves more than the odd mistake to trip themselves up.
PRICE SEALS THE DEAL
Their second foray into the Lions' 22 metre area also delivered a try, as this time Ben Velacott twisted his way over from close range after a massive bombardment of the line by Edinburgh players.
Edinburgh were denied shortly afterwards, but it did cost the Lions a yellow card to Quan Horn, whose turnover tackle was deemed illegal on Graham, and while the home side didn’t score, Horn’s absence for the 10 minutes was costly.
Because it wasn’t long after that that Jamie Ritchie barged his way over close to the line.
The Lions did come back early in the second half to get themselves on the board - and stop more than 120 minutes without scoring a point - when Francke Horn went over from the back of a maul after Grant Gilchrist was carded for a professional foul a minute earlier.
The Emirates Lions set-piece delivers 💪💥
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) April 4, 2025
Francke Horn crashes over for their first points of the match 🔴
📺 Stream #ChallengeCupRugby on DStv: https://t.co/0P0NNhnwKw pic.twitter.com/TEKWjbTKQQ
This gave the Lions hope, and to be honest, they were a lot better in this half, but their ball retention worked against them and Edinburgh were just too good on their home ground.
Eventually the pressure told and midfielder Matt Currie broke through the defence, offloading to Ali Price to seal the game with his team’s fourth try of the evening.
Visagie’s try at the death - coming off the back of a monster maul that he broke away from and needed TMO replays to confirm, will have made the Lions feel better about the exit, even though the stark reality is they are now on a four-game losing streak.
At least they will be at home next week to contemplate a four-game run into the end of the season which will determine if they can make the top eight and qualify for next season’s Investec Champions’ Cup or not.
But on a cool night in the Scottish capital, the Lions were never quite the team they needed to be.
SCORES
EDINBURGH - tries: Wes Goosen, Ben Vellacott, Jamie Ritchie, Ali Price. Conversions: Ross Thompson (2).
EMIRATES LIONS - tries : Francke Horn, Jaco Visagie. Conversion: Nico Steyn.