TRY, LIONS, VAN DER MERWE, 47-24:
Van der Merwe gets onto a little chip ahead and the Lions have gone over to score again.
The Lions try a quick piece of handling but it doesn't work out as they spill it and the Dragons have a scrum 12 inside their own half.
Hewitt's kick has gone straight into touch and the Lions will feel that is it now as they start with a lineout on halfway.
CONVERSION, LIONS, NOHAMBA, 42-24:
Nohamba converts again and restores an 18-point lead.
TRY, LIONS, HORNE, 40-24:
The Lions have surely wrapped it up now as Horne gets over after a lovely stepping run from Maxwane.
CONVERSION, DRAGONS, REED, 35-24:
A great conversion from out wide gives the Dragons a lift.
TRY, DRAGONS, ROBERTS, 35-22:
The maul cannot be stopped and the Dragons have their third.
The Lions stop the Dragons maul but illegally and the visitors will try again from the lineout.
The Lions halfback is isolated and the Dragons can finally set up an attacking play after what seems an age.
The Lions spill it in attack but probably won't mind the clock being eaten into some more.
The Lions have to get their seven man scrum working again after the water break.
The Lions get a little but loose in trying to once again open up the Dragons from deep but eventually its settled down and put into touch by Van den Berg.
CONVERSION, LIONS, NOHAMBA, 35-17:
Nohamba converts the try.
TRY, LIONS, VAN DEN BERG, 33-17:
The Lions counter from a quick lineout and Horn sparks the attack and finds Kriel in space out wide, he cuts inside and finds the final ball to van Den Berg who scores.
The Dragons somehow butcher it with the line begging. They lose the ball at the last, and then after it's scrambled clear by the Lions the Dragons lose the lineout and the Lions run it away from their own 22 before earning a penalty to exit.
The Lions' attack ends strangely with a little chip kick in the Dragons 22 which runs dead. That isn't what the Lions coach would want.
CONVERSION, DRAGONS, REED, 25-17:
Reed converts and the Dragons will be lifted.
TRY, DRAGONS, HEWITT, 25-15:
The Dragons are back in it after some poor defence from the Lions. Its broken play but the Dragons are unstoppable.
The Lions go with a safety first option and with their opponents hooker off the lineout goes awry and the Lions have a scrum feed just outside their 22.
CONVERSION, LIONS, NOHAMBA, 25-10:
Nohamba converts the try to take the Lions out to a 15-point lead.
TRY, LIONS, VAN DER MERWE, 23-10:
The Lions take advantage of the situation and van der Merwe dives over with a salmon flop.
YELLOW CARD, DRAGONS, ROBERTS:
Roberts will go into the bin for a deliberate foot trip and he is lucky that isn't red.
The Dragons now have the attacking lineout after a breakdown penalty and the Lions will be stretched on defence.
Horn restarts deep for the Lions and Williams kicks to touch which the Lions will be happy with given the position inside the Dragons half.
HALF TIME: LIONS 18-10 DRAGONS
A combination of smart defence and determination has kept the Lions just about on top despite getting a rough call with the red card. The Dragons have wasted too many chances on attack but will only get more dangerous in the second half with a man advantage. The Lions lead by eight at the break.
PENALTY, DRAGONS, REED, 18-10:
Reed slots the penalty to close the gap on the Lions.
The Lions scrum is destroyed and they give up a penalty and the Dragons call for the tee.
The Dragons steal the lineout and patiently build in attack with their numbers advantage but as they threaten the Lions 22 they knock on and the Lions will have a scrum feed to try to get the ball away from their danger zone.
The Lions again get over the ball and terminate another Dragons attack and that really is brave defence by the Lions who get away from their 22.
PENALTY, LIONS, NOHAMBA, 18-7:
The Lions take the opportunity to put more points on the board as they have to do with a man down.
Delport gets over the ball and wins a penalty for the Lions at last when it looked like the Dragons had found some space.
Reed throws a horribly forward pass and the Lions can feed a scrum and then begin a kicking battle.
CONVERSION, LIONS, NOHAMBA, 15-7:
Nohamba converts the try to rub salt into the Dragons' wounds.
TRY, LIONS, HORN, 13-7:
The Lions go coast to coast with an incredible try to bounce back from that unjust red card. Horn finishes it off after a great run away from the line from Kriel.
RED CARD, LIONS, SCHOEMAN:
This is a questionable call to say the least. Schoeman comes down from an attempted charge down and strikes Dyer. He is sent off.
Tshituka gets over the ball for the Lions but Nohamba doesn't find touch from his penalty kick to touch but the Dragons kick ti back at them.
Van den Berg kicks well from the base of a ruck under pressure but Dragons could make use of the lineout ten inside the Lions half to attack.
PENALTY, LIONS, NOHAMBA, 8-7:
The Lions take the lead.
A strong carry from Louw gets the Lions going forward again after the Dragons kick clear. The Lions approach the 22 and will attack with advantage. They can't use it and they come back for the penalty.
It takes some time to get the scrum reset after it goes down first time out.
The Lions knock on in attack now and the Dragons can't engineer advantage and will have the feed and the chance to escape their 22 without giving up any more points.
Van Wyk gets over the ball and wins the Lions a crucial penalty that lets the escape their half.
Nohamba cannot convert the try but the Dragons will take theit time restarting with Williams set to return soon.
TRY, LIONS, VAN WYK, 5-7:
Van Wyk sprints away after another charged down kick and they won't catch him.
The scrum goes down and has to be reset and then the Lions walk past the ball and the Dragons take advantage.
The Dragons are now playing with some real swagger after withstanding the initial Lions' attack. The Dragons threaten the Lions 22 before a forward pass cuts short their efforts.
CONVERSION, DRAGONS, REED, 0-7:
Reed converts the try.
TRY, DRAGONS, KEDDIE, 0-5:
Keddie gets over after the Dragons pounce on a charged down kick. Nohamba was looking for the hail mary but it backfired.
YELLOW CARD, DRAGONS, WILLIAMS:
Williams is sent to the bin.
The Lions suddenly spark a lively attack after an age of lateral probing. They get a penalty as Williams infringes deliberately and set up a lineout five out.
KICK-OFF: The Dragons kick deep but block the Lions clearance and come back at the hosts but then lose their feet at the breakdown and give the Lions a chance to switch play into the Dragons half.
The United Rugby Championship match officials are:
Referee: Andrea Piardi (Italy)
Assistant referees: Stephan Geldenhuys (South Africa), Hanru van Rooyen (South Africa)
TMO: Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)
Dragons: 15 Jordan Williams, 14 Rio Dyer, 13 Sio Tomkinson, 12 Steff Hughes (captain), 11 Ashton Hewitt, 10 Will Reed, 9 Rhodri Williams, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Harri Keddie, 6 Sean Lonsdale, 5 George Nott, 4 Matthew Screech, 3 Lloyd Fairbrother, 2 Bradley Roberts, 1 Rhodri Jones.
Replacements: 16 James Benjamin, 17 Aki Seiuli, 18 Luke Yendle, 19 Joe Davies, 20 Ryan Woodman, 21 Dane Blacker, 22 Aneurin Owen, 23 Ewan Rosser.
Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Richard Kriel, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Marius Louw (captain), 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Sanele Nohamba, 9 Morne van den Berg, 8 Francke Horn, 7 Ruan Venter, 6 Emmanuel Tshituka, 5 Ruan Delport, 4 Ruben Schoeman, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 PJ Botha, 1 JP Smith.
Replacements: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 Corne Fourie, 18 Ruan Smith, 19 Willem Alberts, 20 Hanru Sirgel, 21 JC Pretorius, 22 Jordan Hendrikse, 23 Rabz Maxwane.
Greetings and welcome to our coverage of the United Rugby Championship round seven match between the Lions and the Dragons from Ellis Park.
