By Lucky Vince Pienaar
➤ The Lions were not supposed to win, but nobody told the Lions.
For most of the first half Glasgow Warriors were in the lead, but the Lions never stopped competing, brushing aside one obstacle after another to deliver one of their best performances of their Vodacom United Rugby Championship campaign.
They lost playmaker Emmanuel Tshituka early in the match, Ruan Venter lost his head twice to pick up two cards, one of them red. When Francke Horn collected a yellow, the Lions were down to 13 players which didn’t seem to slow them down in the least.
When the final whistle went, the Lions were out on their feet, and why not. They had played one of the greatest Lions matches in a very long time.
The Lions are still outside the top eight, but they have set the cat amongst the pigeons. They are still in it!
Glasgow have done themselves no favours with this loss. Coming into the weekend top of the VURC table, they go back to Scotland in fourth place. Whether they felt they could afford to lose this match, we’ll never know, but there is no doubt that, on the day, they were outplayed.
➤ By halftime the Bulls had already scored five tries, leaving Benetton wondering what was happening. Together, Canan Moodie, Kurt-Lee Arendse and Willie le Roux, must be one of the most dangerous back three combinations in the VURC. It’s no surprise that Moodie got a hattrick with Arendse also crossing the whitewash.
Jake White has steered the Bulls’ ship beautifully this season and the Bulls’ dominant nine-try victory makes a statement that the top teams in the competition can’t ignore.
Once again, however, the Bulls let in five tries. While it was that sort of high-scoring game, but Benetton should not have been allowed those last two tries.
➤ There was no free-flowing running rugby when the Stormers faced Connacht in Galway, but the Stormers manned-up and came out on top in a tough grind. There was no talk of bonus points and the Stormers are still in 5th on the VURC log. Unlike the Sharks, winning is a habit in the Stormers camp.
➤ The Sharks coaches changed 14 deck chairs on the Titanic, but the Sharks hit the iceberg called Cardiff Rugby and sank like a stone.
This is Cardiff’s first win in their last nine matches and they made a meal of it, beating the Sharks by 22 points. It could have been worse. It was a sad sight watching the Sharks players slinking off the field with slumped shoulders.
Yes, the Sharks are playing in the final of the Rugby Challenge Cup against Gloucester this coming Friday so the best players are being rested, but Neil Powell and John Plumtree must watch out. Being so willing to lose becomes a habit.
Vodacom Bulls 56-35 Benetton
Bulls tries: Canan Moodie (3), David Kriel (2), Kurt-Lee Arendse, Ruan Nortje, Akker van der Merwe, Johan Grobbelaar
Benetton tries: Onisi Ratave, Gianmarco Lucchesi, Andy Uren, Toa Halafihi, Marco Zanon
Emirates Lions 44-21 Glasgow Warriors
Lions tries: Sibhale Maxwane (2), Edwill Van Der Merwe, JC Pretorius, Sanele Nohamba, Hanru Sirgel
Glasgow: Kyle Rowe, Jonny Matthews, Josh McKay
Connacht 12-16 DHL Stormers
Glasgow tries: Caolin Blade, Jack Aungier
Stormers tries: Angelo Davids
Hollywoodbets Sharks 14-36 Cardiff Rugby
Sharks tries: Diego Appollis, Curwin Bosch
Cardiff tries: Alun Lawrence, Ben Donnell, Willis Halaholo, James Botham, Mason Grady
Pictured above: Lions
Image source: @lionsrugbyco
