Following the Lions’ 26-7 victory over Connacht in the United Rugby Championship (URC), here are our five takeaways from the clash at Ellis Park.
The top line
The Lions snapped a five-game losing streak to keep their unlikely chances of making the URC play-offs alive. It was a far more complete performance from the Jo’burgers, who were well off the pace a week ago against Benetton.
Rising star Renzo du Plessis put the Lions ahead as he thundered over the line in the fifth minute with a pair of penalties from Kade Wolhuter keeping the scoreboard ticking over as the hosts led 11-0 at the break.
Du Plessis would visit the sin bin after Wolhuter made it 14-0 early in the second half as the Lions showed real fight and accuracy on defence to keep Connacht scoreless.
The deadlock in the second half was finally broken by JC Pretorius in the 70th minute before Connacht finally found a route over the line through Eion de Buitlear with six minutes left to play.
But the Lions would have the final word as Edwill van der Merwe raced over for his seventh try of the URC season after being denied one earlier.
Lions grow up too late?
The Lions will hold onto their slimmest chances of making the URC play-offs, more on that later, having finally snapped a five-game losing streak in all competitions today.
However, Ivan van Rooyen’s side may have left it too late to produce a grown-up performance though with Oval Insights providing them with 12% probability of making the final eight before today’s fixture. Still, the Lions have always embodied the underdog spirit and this season will be no different.
The Lions were boosted by the return of Henco van Wyk in the number 13 jersey and the centre made a telling difference in the side’s defensive efforts as the Jo’burgers kept one of the best-attacking teams in the URC scoreless.
Nilling Connacht for 74 minutes should not be sniffed at, a team that ran in five tries against the Stormers last week, as the Jaque Fourie-coached defence finally clicked.
It wasn’t just the accuracy and effectiveness of the defence that was night and day from recent performances by the men in red but also their tactics with the ball in hand.
The Lions have some of the most exciting backs of the South African URC teams but also have a system to get the most out of them. However, far too often in recent matches they have pressed the issue when they really shouldn’t have and conceded silly turnovers in great attacking positions.
But against Connacht, they were far more intelligent in their approach and notably kicked much more than they did in defeat to Benetton. Against the Italians, they kicked just 19 times, but they had far surpassed that tally by the hour mark.
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Edwill van der Merwe marker
Rassie Erasmus’ Instagram activity confirms that the Springboks boss was tuning in to see how the Lions were faring against the Irish outfit with South Africa’s first Tests of the year fast approaching.
Van der Merwe has been in fine form for the Lions of late despite the poor run of results and he was at it again today with sharp defensive reads and threatening attacking runs. He had a try chalked off after Van Wyk’s high tackle but he showed his electric pace and fantastic footwork to round off the chance. He would be rewarded right at the end of the match for his efforts as he continues to lay down a marker to add to his Test cap tally.
Additionally, Erasmus will have been impressed by Du Plessis – who was a surprise inclusion in the Springbok alignment camps – as the livewire back-rower powered over for a try and regularly got over the advantage line with his carries. Du Plessis is cut from the same cloth as Kwagga Smith and shone in what was his first start of the season for the side with the only blight on his game being the trip tackle that earned him ten minutes in the sin bin. He was rightly named Man of the Match despite his yellow card, in a performance that justified the Springboks coaching team’s interest.
In the same breath, Pretorius was similarly impactful with the Lions deploying dual openside flankers after a reported spat between Ruan Venter and Dorian Langsberg earlier in the week. Like Du Plessis, Pretorius showed real fight in his carries taking the Connacht defenders with him as he regularly gained metres while not shying away on defence.
Elsewhere, Van Wyk was a standout in the backline while Asenathi Ntlabakanye flexed his scrummaging prowess over Peter Dooley.
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Doris stand-in?
Interim Ireland head coach Paul O’Connell would have also kept a keen eye on the clash at Ellis Park with potential Ireland call-ups littered across the Connacht 23.
But perhaps the most intriguing performance came in the back-row with Cian Prendergast enjoying a strong shift but was notably excellent in his communication with referee Hollie Davidson. He was not just respectful but asked great questions of the official, showing outstanding understanding of the laws, an underrated trait of the modern captains.
With Caelan Doris a certain pick in the British and Irish Lions squad and possible skipper, O’Connell will need to select someone to fill his void and Prendergast is making a strong claim to do just that. When the number eight missed the clash against Wales, Prendergast was namechecked as one of the possible captains for the match and the Connacht star is putting in shifts worthy of not only making the squad for matches against Georgia and Portugal but captaining the team.
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Race to Eight chances
Both teams look to be all-but out of the race for the URC play-offs but Connacht’s chances were dealt a savage blow today.
The Irish province headed into the weekend with a 17% probability of cracking the top eight but failure to take a single point is surely the final nail in the coffin. Edinburgh and Zebre are up next for Connacht, two games they will fancy their chances of winning, but ones that may not matter in the grand scheme of things.
Meanwhile, the Lions’ hopes were given a shot in the arm today particularly with home matches against the Scarlets and Ospreys up next.
They will have long odds to sneak in and will require some results elsewhere to go their way.
Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/lions-v-connacht-five-takeaways-as-rising-star-justifies-springboks-interest-to-keep-slimmest-play-off-hopes-alive
