FULL-TIME, LIONS 44-12 LEINSTER. A thoroughly brilliant and absorbing game of rugby with the Lions in scintillating form. Leinster were never in the game against the home side who produced some lovely running rugby.
CONVERSION, LIONS, HENDRIKSE! 44-12; No hassle from under the posts… and there's the final whistle.
TRY, LIONS, HORN! 42-12; Horn runs onto a dab forward from Hendrikse, collects and crashes over for the try.
CONVERSION, LIONS, NOHAMBA! 37-12; Conversion no problem from 10 m to the left of the poles.
TRY, LIONS, TSHITUKA! 35-12; Tshituka races through for the score, a brilliant team effort.
Leinster run the ball well but the Lions win the back and counter-attack… a long pass down the line sets the Lions free along the left touchine… they draw the man and the ball finds Tshituka out on the left wing… he palms his man off…
Lions win the ball but don't clear the ball from the maul and are blown up and Leinster will feed the scrum just inside the Lions' half.
Leinster run the ball, push deep into the Lions' 22… but they are blown in the 5m line and Lions have a penalty kick past their 10m.
They elect a scrum but Lions turn possess over and win a penalty. It's kicked to the halfway line… the Lions win the long throw in and drive for the line, but Leinster stop them in their tracks, winning a penalty.
Leinster run the ball but are pulled to ground, but the penalty is in their favour.
Leinster win the ball and drive forward into the Lions half and win a lineout.
Leinster pressing forward hard but the Lions soak up the pressure.
The conversion slides wide… they needn't that to go over if they had a hope of clawing things back in this match.
TRY, LEINSTER, FRAWLEY! 30-12; From the lineout Leinster run the ball and draw their man, Frawley driving through near the corner for his second try.
Leinster press forward and win a penalty on the halfway line.
WIDE! Nohamba gets too much curl on his conversion attempts which was from about 7m in from the right touchline.
TRY, LIONS, TSHITUKA! 30-7; Great response from the Lions, driving through the right wing and creating an overlap for Tshituka to collect and race over the line to dot down for the bonus point try.
CONVERSION, LEINSTER, BYRNE! 25-7. No problem from close to the poles.
TRY, LEINSTER, FRAWLEY! 25-5; Great running from Leinster, their fresh legs helping to set Frawley through with a chip over the top… the ball bounces just right and it's the opening score for Leinster.
Leinster win the lineout and press for the line, but the Lions are pressing hard on defense…
Leinster with the scrum on the halfway line, they win a penalty and kick into the Lions 22.
PENALTY, LIONS, NOHAMBA! 25-0; Nohamba's kick from a few paces short of the halfway line JUST slides over in the left crook of the posts. One flag went up and one stayed down… TMO confirmed the kick was tight but gooooooood!
The two teams exchange kicks and opportunities to run at one another… and the Lions end with a penalty just inside the Leinster half… and Nohamba signals to the posts.
… but Leinster are blown for their scrum, Nohamba kicks his penalty into the Leinster 22 and the Lions win the lineout… but Leinster grab the ball back and clear upfield where the Lions will have the lineout on the halfway line…
From the scum Leinster run the ball down the right touchline all the way through a couple of tackles and dive over for the score… but hold on, the TMO is checking… FORWARD PASS! Tough break again for Leinster… the second try that had to be reversed by slomo! Lions feed the scrum on their 10m now…
No… kick is into the 22 where the table-toppers will look to win the lineout. They do but the Lions press them out their 22… Lions turn the ball over, run then kick it forward but it bounces out to touch for a Leinster throw near the Lions' 10m…
The teams ruck, Lions clear deep upfield and Leinster run the ball, first right, then left… then win a penalty for an infringement in the maul. Leinster look like they might kick for poles…
KICK-OFF! We're underway with the second half…
HALF-TIME, LIONS 22-0 LEINSTER. Well, it's not the Leinster best XV, but the Lions are the right thing and giving the best out there on the field against the players in front of them. So far they have been superb running the ball… let's see what both teams bring to the second half.
Beautiful running from Leinster, and they cross over the line… but the ref and TMO judge it was a knock-on. Bitter blow for Leinster who have yet to open their account.
Leinster win the lineout and drive for all they are worth but are bundled out on the left touchline.
Leinster kick to the Lions 5m, win the scrum and run the line down the left, but Nohamba pressed off-side. Leinster kick to the 5m for a lineout…
Leinster press back at the Lions and work it back into the Lions 22 through lovely attacking rugby.
Leinster win the lineout and drive across field to under the poles… they press over the line… but the ref blows and rules correctly that the ball was held up. Lions can clear.
Leinster win a penalty after bad scrumming from the Lions and it's kicked from the halfway line to the 5m…
Some lovely play from the Lions, driving hard at Leinster and bursting through them, before being pulled down for a scrum.
Lions win the ball, run the line, burst through Leinster but are drawn back in and pushed out to touch.
Lions win their lineout just on their 10m… run the ball, drive at the line… a kick is lofted into their half… and it's knocked on and the Lions will have the scrum.
Lions find touch but Leinster gain possession… they spread it wide to and run it upfield, win a lineout and Byrne clears upfield.
Lions win the lineout and it's kicked upfield from the base of the scrum… Lions drive forward, spread the ball… and win another penalty, this one inside the Leister half.
Leinster blown for a scrum infringement and Nohamba drives the penalty upfield.
Leinster drive forward into the Lions 22, they win a scrum 10m from the Lions' tryline… they're struggling to make the scrum work…
CONVERSION, LIONS, NOHAMBA! 22-0; Nohamba slots it from 15m left of the poles.
TRY, LIONS, HORN! 20-0; Another great run from the Lions, this time down the left, a bursting run drawing the man, and Horn just has to sprint hard to run it through the 22 and over the line.
TRY, LIONS, LOUW! 15-0; Lions break the Leinster attack down and run the ball brilliantly down then right with some super passing. The conversion is missed from wide on the right.
Good play now by Leinster, working the ruck and running the ball… a chip forward, but it's too deep and the Lions will throw.
PENALTY, LIONS, NOHAMBA! 10-0; 15m to the side of the posts… nailed by Nohamba!
Leinster struggling to get the scrum to work, rebuild it twice and then the ref blows for a penalty and the Lions will kick for poles.
Lions drive forward again into the Leinster half, this time they are brought down and the Lions win a scrum inside the Leinster 22…
CONVERSION, LIONS, NOHAMBA! 7-0; No challenge at all from under the poles.
TRY, LIONS, VAN DEN BERG! 5-0; From the kick-off the Lions reclaim the ball, run it left, drawing two men, then a pass back inside and Morné van den Berg collects and runs through to do down under the poles! Couldn't asked for a better start!
KICK-OFF! We're underway here at Ellis Park!
Our referee for today is Gianluca Gnecchi from Italy, and he will be assisted along the lines by Morné Ferreira (and Christopher Allison (both from South Africa). Our TMO is Andrea Piardi, who is also from Italy.
Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Richard Kriel, 13 Erich Cronje, 12 Marius Louw (captain), 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Sanele Nohamba, 9 Morné van den Berg, 8 Francke Horn, 7 Emmanuel Tshituka, 6 JC Pretorius, 5 Ruan Delport, 4 Willem Alberts, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 PJ Botha, 1 Morgan Naudé. Replacements: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 JP Smith, 18 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 19 Reinhard Nothnagel, 20 Sibusiso Sangweni, 21 Nico Steyn, 22 Jordan Hendrikse, 23 Henco van Wyk.
Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Richard Kriel, 13 Erich Cronje, 12 Marius Louw (captain), 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Sanele Nohamba, 9 Morné van den Berg, 8 Francke Horn, 7 Emmanuel Tshituka, 6 JC Pretorius, 5 Ruan Delport, 4 Willem Alberts, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 PJ Botha, 1 Morgan Naudé. Replacements: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 JP Smith, 18 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 19 Reinhard Nothnagel, 20 Sibusiso Sangweni, 21 Nico Steyn, 22 Jordan Hendrikse, 23 Henco van Wyk.
Leinster have won all five of their last five matches.
The Lions have lost three of their last five games and won two.
Leinster have won the last three meetings between the two sides. In 2022 they beat the Lions 21-13 twice at home, and in 2023 the Lions were pipped 36-39 at Ellis Park.
Leinster are top of the URC table, sitting five points ahead of second-placed Glasgow. Leinster have won 11 of their 13 matches, with just two losses.
The Lions are currently 11th on the URC table, with six wins but seven losses from 13 games. They are sitting on 34 points.
Our referee for today is Gianluca Gnecchi from Italy, and he will be assisted along the lines by Morné Ferreira (and Christopher Allison (both from South Africa). Our TMO is Andrea Piardi, who is also from Italy.
Leinster: 15 Ciarán Frawley, 14 Rob Russell, 13 Liam Turner, 12 Charlie Ngatai, 11 Andrew Osborne, 10 Harry Byrne, 9 Luke McGrath, 8 Max Deegan, 7 Scott Penny (captain), 6 Diarmuid Mangan, 5 Jason Jenkins, 4 Brian Deeny, 3 Thomas Clarkson, 2 Lee Barron, 1 Cian Healy. Replacements: 16 John McKee, 17 Michael Milne, 18 Michael Ala’alatoa, 19 Ross Molony, 20 Rhys Ruddock, 21 Cormac Foley, 22 San Prendergast, 23 Ben Brownlee.
Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Richard Kriel, 13 Erich Cronje, 12 Marius Louw (captain), 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Sanele Nohamba, 9 Morné van den Berg, 8 Francke Horn, 7 Emmanuel Tshituka, 6 JC Pretorius, 5 Ruan Delport, 4 Willem Alberts, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 PJ Botha, 1 Morgan Naudé. Replacements: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 JP Smith, 18 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 19 Reinhard Nothnagel, 20 Sibusiso Sangweni, 21 Nico Steyn, 22 Jordan Hendrikse, 23 Henco van Wyk.
Good afternoon, and welcome to our live coverage of the United Rugby Championship match between the Lions and Leinster, live from Ellis Park in Joburg.
