Lions fail to roar in Challenge Cup play-off
Yesterday at 05:25 PM
MATCH REPORT: The Lions' Challenge Cup campaign came to an end on Friday with a 12-24 defeat to Edinburgh in their Round of 16 clash in Scotland.
The hosts outscored the visitors by four tries to two in the match.
It was a poor start by Ivan van Rooyen' side and they eventually found themselves 0-17 down at the break.
They showed some more fight in the second half with two tries, but they could've had so much more if they were more clinical on attack.
Edinburgh will either face Bayonne or the Bulls in the quarterfinals. Those two sides will meet in France on Saturday.
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It was a blistering start for the home side as they carved the Lions' defence to pieces out wide with Wes Goosen finishing things off with a five-pointer in the second minute.
Goosen was on fire as he dazzled with ball in hand in the build-up to Edinburgh's second try, which was scored by scrumhalf and captain Ben Vellacott in the 10th minute.
The Lions were reduced to 14 men in the 23rd minute after Quan Horn was shown a yellow card for not releasing an opponent after producing a try-saving tackle on Darcy Graham.
Edinburgh scored their third try in the 29th minute and it all started with a brilliant run from Graham from inside his own 22.
After the speedster weaved his way through the Lions' defence, the ball went through the hands before Jamie Ritchie powered his way over the tryline from close range.
After missing his first two conversion attempts, Ross Thompson finally added the extra two points.
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The Lions looked a bit better in the opening few minutes of the second half and they also got a boost when Edinburgh lock Grant Gilchrist received a yellow card for tackling Morne van den Berg without the ball.
They eventually got their first points of the game when captain Francke Horn found his way to the tryline after a powerful driving maul.
The Lions had their opportunities to add to the score, but they were clumsy and wasteful in the strike zone.
Edinburgh eventually made things comfortable again in the 72nd minute when Ali Price ran in for his team's fourth try.
The Lions had the final say in the game with a try from Jaco Visagie in the 76th minute.
Man of the match: The award goes to Edinburgh fullback Wes Goosen. He was outstanding on attack and he scored a try and had a big hand in another.
The scorers:
For Edinburgh:
Tries: Goosen, Vellacott, Ritchie, Price
Cons: Thompson, Scott
For Lions:
Tries: F Horn, Visagie
Con: Steyn
Yellow cards: Quan Horn (Lions, 23' - cynical play, not releasing the player); Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh, 45' - tackling a player without the ball)
Teams:
Edinburgh: 15 Wes Goosen, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Matt Currie, 12 James Lang, 11 Ross McCann, 10 Ross Thompson, 9 Ben Vellacott (captain), 8 Magnus Bradbury, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Jamie Ritchie, 5 Grant Gilchrist (captain), 4 Sam Skinner, 3 Javan Sebastian, 2 Dave Cherry, 1 Pierre Schoeman.
Replacements: 16 Ewan Ashman, 17 Boan Venter, 18 Angus Williams, 19 Glen Young, 20 Freddy Douglas, 21 Ali Price, 22 Cammy Scott, 23 Jack Brown.
Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Richard Kriel, 13 Manuel Rass, 12 Rynhardt Jonker, 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Gianni Lombard, 9 Morne van den Berg, 8 Francke Horn (captain), 7 Ruan Venter, 6 Jarod Cairns, 5 Darrien Landsberg, 4 Ruben Schoeman, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 Franco Marais, 1 SJ Kotze.
Replacements: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 Juan Schoeman, 18 RF Schoeman, 19 Izan Esterhuizen, 20 Siba Qoma, 21 Nico Steyn, 22 JC Pretorius, 23 Marius Louw.
Referee: Ludovic Cayre (France)
Assistant referees: Evan Urruzmendi (France) & Vincent Blasco Baque (France)
TMO: Denis Grenouillet (France)
