Johannesburg — An astonishing second half team performance by the Lions saw them beat the mighty Munster at Emirates Airline Park in their United Rugby Championship encounter on Saturday afternoon.
Munster took control of the match as early as the 8th minute, tighthead John Ryan driven over the line to open the scoring. They were arguably aided by a lackluster and leadfooted Lions side that seemed to battle to get going, especially in the first 30 minutes of the encounter.
Their actions on attack, when they had the scant opportunity, were belaboured, while in defence they battled to contain an Irish outfit that was full of running. On the occasions that the Lions managed to get some possession, Munster contested the breakdown something fierce, disrupting the flow of the hosts and putting them under immense pressure and into near panic.
Moreover, the Lions execution was sub-par during this period. They once again fluffed attacking opportunities, especially at line-out time in the first quarter. They also had no joy at scrumtime, although one could argue that they should have. The Lions did have one moment of jot to celebrate in the first 40 when they finally scored through due to a fantastic offload of skipper Burger Odendaal to Edwill van der Merwe, who bumped his way over the defence to dive over the tryline in the corner. And there was further good rugby as Hendrikse slotted over the resultant clutch kick from an acute angle to convert that try.
Nevertheless, Munster held all the card going into the shed at half-time and finished off the first stanza with some brilliant interplay off a solid enough scrum, breaking the hosts defensive line too easily for Fineen Wycherley to bundle over the whitewash for his brace; and a deserved 11-point lead.
“Wake up!” came the call from a disgruntled supporter before half-time, and that message would have been repeated and amplified in the dressing room at the break. There was certainly a pick-up in pace from the Lions at the beginning of the second half, but it did not translate into points, initially.
Indeed, it was Munster that scored first try, only to be denied by a forward pass in their movement. The buildup to the disallowed try was, however, a perfect example of Munster’s playbook: quick ball from the breakdown, crisp passing to a runner on the angle around the corner, cleanout, repeat, go wide and fall back onto step one.
It at times sliced the Lions line to shreds, and the damage would have been irreparable had it not been for the committed scrambling. As lacksidasical as the defence at times had been in the first half, it now showed a steely resolve. There were some exhausting tackles from the Lions for a period of three minutes at the turn of the 60th minute that denied Munster, and kept the Joburgers in with a sniff.
A rip-roaring 15 final minutes awaited the Ellis Park faithful. A powerful scrum, now led by the replacement frontrow of PJ Botha, JP Smith and Ruan Dreyer, edged the hosts closer through the faultless boot of Hendrikse; and then an opportunist try, built on pressure and speed of play, by Wandilsile Simelane moments guided them to 21-20.
With six minutes on the clock, the momentum had fully swung the way of the Lions. They were playing in the right side of the field, making the right decisions and defending relentlessly. Their discipline was impeccable, and most importantly had the scoreboard on their side after another Hedrikse penalty.
One final, mammoth effort was required in the closing minutes, and it saw the Lions pack down to win the final scrum of the match, Morne van den Berg booting it out to claim a brilliant triumph over the Irish giants, and arguably the Joburgers best performance of the season.
Scorers
Emirates Lions (10) 23: Tries: Van der Merwe, Simelane; Conversions: Hendrikse (2); Penalties: Hendrikse (3)
Munster (21) 21: Tries: Ryan, Wycherley (2); Conversions: Crowley (3)
IOL Sport