Lions …………….55
Edinburgh ……21
EDINBURGH suffered a savage mauling by a rampant Lions outfit to leave their ambitions of a top-four URC place looking forlorn after a third defeat in their opening three games.
The South African outfit ran riot in Johannesburg, Rabz Maxwane grabbing a hat-trick and Edwill van der Merwe a brace among the hosts’ eight tries.
While wing Duhan van der Merwe was a late withdrawal for Edinburgh with a tight calf, the visitors fed the Lions with cheap turnovers in possession and a woeful kicking game.
“No-one prepares you for this,” said head coach Sean Everitt. “It was a very disappointing first 40 minutes. We didn’t stick to the plan and went off our kick strategy.”
After an early Kade Wolhuter penalty, the hosts had their first try after five minutes via outstanding full-back Quan Horn after a breakout from equally influential No 8 Francke Horn, Maxwane swiftly adding a second with a sizzling finish.
Edinburgh were a blunt instrument in attack, turning down an easy three-pointer to go for the corner only for hooker Ewan Ashman to be held up over the line.
When another pass went to ground, a devastating Lions counter-attack saw Van der Merwe collect Morne Van den Berg’s chip ahead to score, Wolhuter’s conversion making it 22-0 in as many minutes.
But the Lions accelerated in the second quarter, a stepping run from Pretorious after a lost Edinburgh lineout ending with centre Rynhardt Jonker slicing through a gap for the bonus point.
Wolhuter stepped past some flimsy tackling to present Maxwane with his second try and the visitors shipped a sixth and seventh before the interval, Francke Horn finishing off a counter from namesake Quan and Van der Merwe skating over for his second.
Edinburgh belatedly stirred themselves on the resumption, co-captain Grant Gilchrist driving over and replacement hooker Patrick Harrison grabbing a second after a quick tap penalty.
With Lions prop Heiko Pohlmann in the sin-bin, Ben Muncaster burrowed over but a four-try bonus point eluded Edinburgh as Maxwane had the last word to complete his hat-trick.
TEAMS
LIONS: Q Horn 8, Maxwane 8, Cronje 7, Jonker 7 (Louw 73, 6), E van der Merwe 8 (Van Wyk 63, 5); Wolhuter 8 (Nohamba 34, 6), Van den Berg 7; J Schoeman 6 (Pohlman 63, 4), Marais 7 (Visagie 62, 5), Ntlabakanye 7 (Van Vuuren 63, 5), Nothnagel 6, Landsberg 7 (Schoeman 62, 6), Pretorius 9, Cairns 7 (R du Plessis 76, 5), F Horn 8. EDINBURGH: Goosen 5; Graham 4, Tuipulotu 4, Scott 5, McCann 4; Healy 4 (Thompson 61, 5), Vellacott 4 (Price 73, 4); Schoeman 6 (Venter 57, 5), Ashman 4 (Harrison 34, 6), Hill 6 (Rae 57, 5), Sykes 5 (Hodgson 73, 5), Gilchrist 6, Ritchie 6 (Dodd 73, 5), Watson 6 (Muncaster 53, 6), Bradbury 4
REFEREE: Adam Jones ATTENDANCE: 5,012
Star player JC Pretorius -Lions
Zebre …………….. 5 Stormers ……. 36
STORMERS were without star fly-half Manie Libbok, who was off getting married, but with Jurie Matthee stepping in, the South Africans were too strong for Zebre.
In a tightly-contested first half, Matthee’s trio of penalties gave the visitors the advantage before Leolin Zas’ touchdown on the stroke of half time.
The first points of the second period came when wing Suleiman Hartzenberg beat two defenders to dot down for a try just after the hour mark.
With the game beginning to open up, theStormers produced a stunning fast-paced move which allowed Zas to score his side’s third try.Star player JC Pretorius -Lions
As the contest sparked to life, Zebre produced a moment of magic as wing Simone Gesi sprinted down the left touchline before gathering his own chip over the line before falling on the ball for the try.
Angelo Davids added the final try for the Stormers with time up on the clock.
The win made it four from four for the SA teams in the URC over the weekend.
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