Connacht ……..14 Lions …………….38
MAN of the match JC Pretorious said a first ever win in Ireland could now propel them into a knockout place in the URC and a spot in next season's Champions Cup.
They were full value for their six tries to two win in Galway despite playing more than three-quarters of the match with 14 men after 153kg tighthead Asenathi Ntlabakanye was sent off for a high challenge on flanker Conor Oliver after 17 minutes.
“We pride on ourselves being tough and we dug in when we went down to 14 and hopefully now we can take confidence from this win,” he said.
Connacht, having conceded early on to No.8 Francke Horn, got back on level terms when Cian Prendegast stretched and score in the move which led to the red card.
Connacht failed to make the extra man count Stor mers' third try wa when they had the breeze behind them in the opening half. JJ Hanrahan failed to find touch when they won a scrum penalty, while he also kicked a restart dead after the Lions got their second try after 26 minutes when flanker Pretorious got over after a five-metre lineout.
The Jo'burg side extended their 12-7 interval lead nine minutes after the restart when winger Edwill van der Merwe scored from deep after intercepting Byron Ralston's pass just as Connacht were building phases.
Henrikse's conversion made it 19-7 but Connacht got back in contention when a neat pass from Cathal Forde put Hanrahan over by the posts, with the conversion leaving five between them.
But Connacht were unable to complete the comeback and Lions secured the bonus point 17 minutes from time when centre Erish Cronje stepped inside replacement tighthead Sam Illo to score a converted try to lead 26-14.
They sealed the win ten minutes from time with Horn's second try and turned the screw in the dying moments when replacement Morne van den Berg scored moments after coming on.
TEAMS
CONNACHT: O'Halloran 5; Ralston 4, Hawkshaw 4, Forde 6, Smith 4; Hanrahan 4 (Carty 56, 5), Blade (c) 5 (Reilly 66, 5); Buckley 6 (Duggan 51, 6), McElroy 4 (Heffernan 51, 5), Aungier 6 (Illo 51, 4); N Murray 7, J Joyce 7 (D Murray 54, 6); Prendergast 6, Oliver 5 (Hurley-Langton 17, 6), O'Brien 6 (Boyle 65, 6)
LIONS: Q Horn 7; Kriel 7, Cronje 7 (Pienaar 78, 5), Louw (c) 8, van der Merwe 8; Hendrikse 8 (van den Berg 78), Nohamba 7; Smith 7 (Naude 56, 6), Botha 7 (Visagie 56, 6), Ntlabakanye 3; Oosthuizen 6 (Landsberg 10, 8), Nothnagel 6 (Esterhuizen 79, 5); Pretorius 9, Tshituka 5 (van Vuuren 18, 6), F Horn 8
Not used: Sirgel
REFEREE: Craig Evans ATTENDANCE: 4,500
Star man JC Pretorious -Lions
