Lions maul Western Province at home to secure second bonus-point Currie Cup win

The Lions were able to hold out for a hard-fought 40-19 bonus-point win over Western Province despite a second-half fightback from the visitors at Ellis Park on Saturday afternoon.

Province had struggled in the set piece in their opening loss against the Bulls, and it was an area they clearly worked on in the week. They were solid in the scrums and lineouts, profiting from their first throw-in when No 8 Louw Nel went over from a lineout maul. 

Flyhalf Lubabalo Dobela hit back for the Lions after a great run by scrumhalf Nico Steyn, and an inside ball from centre Marius Jonker saw him cut through the Province defence to score. He converted his own try to give the home team the lead.

The home side was starting to give the ball air, with Dobela proving elusive with his jinking runs. They were also starting to boss the rucks, with the WP penalty count mounting.  

Province could do nothing to stop a Lions rolling maul in the 15th minute from the lineout. Skipper Jaco Visagie grounded the ball, but the penalty try was awarded for deliberately collapsing the maul.

Province also suffered the wrath of the referee for the repeated infringements, going a man down after prop Sti Sithole was sin-binned.

Province built up pressure with a number of phases of play, but No 10 Kyle Smith missed the resultant penalty. Lions winger Rabz Maxwane made Province pay with a quick counter down the left wing, where Jonker was again prominent after the ball was spread wide quickly. His try was converted by Dobela.

The Lions were then hamstrung by a mounting error count, despite being full of running and dominating possession.

Steyn picked up a yellow card with five minutes to go in the half, and a Gideon van Wyk pick-and-drive led to the visitors’ second try.

The Lions led 21-12 at halftime.

Province were full of running at the beginning of the second half, but were also guilty of not taking their chances with unforced errors.

And the Lions again punished Province, taking the ball through the phases after a lineout steal and WJ Steenkamp got the bonus-point score for the home side. 

Province pressed and another lineout maul led to their third try, a second for Nel in a carbon copy of their opening score. Smith landed a tricky conversion from the right to cut the deficit to nine, with more than 25 minutes to play.

Both teams rang the changes in a tense final quarter. A well-deserved try by skipper Visagie, again off a rolling maul, extended the Lions’ lead to 35-19. They then repeated the trick minutes later with Visagie again the beneficiary.

The visitors tried to force their way back into the match with 10 minutes remaining, but could not make further inroads. A serious late injury to replacement Heiko Pohlman was the only concern for the Joburgers.

The Lions made it two bonus-point wins at home in a row after last weekend’s win against the Sharks. The versatile Dobela, who switched to scrumhalf in the second half, was named Player of the Match.

Province are still searching for their first log points of the season.   

Point-Scorers

Lions 40 - Tries: Dobela, Penalty Try, Maxwane, Steenkamp, Visagie (2); Conversions: Dobela (4).

Western Province 19 - Tries: Nel (2), Van Wyk; Conversions: Smith (2).