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Clinical Lions maul atrocious WP

The Lions were ruthless as they ran in five tries in the opening 40 minutes to take a healthy 37-13 lead and continued that pressure on the visitors in the second half to claim the emphatic victory. As clinical as the Lions were, WP were poor on defence as they missed 43 tackles throughout the encounter but still managed to bag a four-point bonus point try.

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The home side got off to the perfect start as they grabbed the opening try in the first minute. Ruan Ackermann collected the kick-off inside his 22 and the Lions opted to run the ball out. The ball was kept alive and after numerous passes, offloads and more than 80 metres of running, Jacques Nel got the score.

Jaco van der Walt failed with the conversion but the home side led 5-0.

Western Province went on the attack from the restart and after sustained pressure inside their 22, the Lions gave away a penalty which Robert du Preez goaled to bring the visitors on the board and trail the home side 3-5 after six minutes.

Du Preez handed WP the lead in the 11th minute with a second penalty but van der Walt slotted a penalty of his own to ensure the home side had an 8-6 lead in the 13th minute. The Lions continued their running game and had Province's defence chasing shadows.

Two tries, within two minutes of each other and a van der Walt penalty gave the Lions a 17-point lead. Nel broke through WP's defence and after beaten numerous defenders, the final pass found Robbie Coetzee who powered his way over in the 15th minute.

It was then Anthony Volmink's turn to show his speed and stepping ability as he ripped through WP's defence before a few offloads found Andries Coetzee who slid over. Van der Walt managed to add just one conversion and a 20th-minute penalty to ensure the lead.

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WP cut into the Lions' lead in the 32nd minute when Leolin Zas produced a brilliant individual effort. Du Preez converted to reduce the deficit to 13-23. The closing minutes of the half was one-way traffic as some horrendous WP defending saw them leak two quick tries.

After a number of phases and patience on attack, JP du Preez made his way over the try-line to ensure the bonus point in the 37th minute. Rohan Janse van Rensburg got his name on the scoresheet in the 39th minute when he benefitted from another outstanding Volmink break.

Van der Walt converted both scores to hand the home side a 37-13 lead at the break

WP's atrocious defending continued in the second half as Volmink grabbed his side's sixth try in the 46th minute. The match became a bit scrappy in the next few minutes until Albertus Smith displayed tremendous strength, speed and a vicious sidestep to grab his side's seventh try.

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Van der Walt converted to bring up 50 points for the home side. WP looked to have gotten themselves some momentum with tries by Jacques Vermeulen in the 63rd minute and Dewaldt Duvenage in the 71st minute. Du Preez converted both scores to leave the score at 51-27 in the Lions' favour.

The Lions grabbed their eighth try soon after though as A Smith showed his strength for his second try of the match. Van der Walt converted to stretch the lead to 58-27 with five minutes remaining in the match.

Vermeulen ensured WP left Ellis Park with something as he grabbed his second try in the dying seconds to secure the four-try bonus point.

Man of the match: EW Viljoen carried strongly and looked for work while Leolin Zas made the most of his limited chances for the visitors. Jacques Vermeulen was the visitors' standout player after coming on as an early replacement. The Lions' pack were brilliant at scrum time. Ruan Ackermann and Fabian Booysen set the tone with strong runs and Ross Cronje was at the heart of each attack. Albertus Smith was brilliant in all facets while Jacques Nel ran holes in WP's defence but our award goes to Anthony Volmink, who set up two brilliant tries and grabbed one of his own.

Scorers:

For Golden Lions:

Tries: Nel, R Coetzee, A Coetzee, du Preez, Janse van Rensburg, Volmink, A Smith 2

Cons: van der Walt 6

Pens: van der Walt 2

For Western Province:

Tries: Zas, Vermeulen 2, Duvenage

Cons: du Preez 3

Pens: du Preez 2

Teams:

Golden Lions: 15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Selom Gavor, 13 Jacques Nel, 12 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 11 Anthony Volmink, 10 Jaco van der Walt, 9 Ross Cronje (captain), 8 Fabian Booysen, 7 Ruan Ackermann, 6 Albertus Smith, 5 Lourens Erasmus, 4 Jean-Pierre du Preez, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 Robbie Coetzee, 1 Dylan Smith.

Replacements: 16 Armand van der Merwe, 17 Jacques van Rooyen, 18 Andries Ferreira, 19 Cyle Brink, 20 Ruaan Lerm / Steph de Wit, 21 Ashlon Davids, 22 Howard Mnisi.  

Western Province: 15 Cheslin Kolbe, 14 Werner Kok, 13 EW Viljoen, 12 Johnny Kotze, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Robert du Preez, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 Kobus van Dyk, 7 Jurie van Vuuren, 6 Rynhardt Elstadt, 5 Chris van Zyl (captain), 4 Jan de Klerk, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Mike Willemse, 1 JC Janse van Rensburg.

Replacements: 16 Neil Rautenbach, 17 Alistair Vermaak, 18 JP Smith, 19 Jacques Vermeulen, 20 Eital Bredenkamp, 21 Dewaldt Duvenage, 22 Scott van Breda.

Referee: Jaco Peyper

Assistant referees: Jaco van Heerden, Eduan Nel

TMO: Johan Greeff

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