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Lions roar back in second half to sink Munster
By PA
Munster faded after making a strong start as they slipped to a 23-21 United Rugby Championship defeat to the Lions in Johannesburg.
Props John Ryan and Josh Wycherley touched down as the visitors opened up a 14-0 lead in the first quarter and they led 21-10 at the break thanks to Fineen Wycherley’s try late in the half, with Edwill van der Merwe having crossed for the hosts.
However, the heat and altitude looked to be taking their toll on Munster as the second half progressed and the home side eventually started to eat away at the deficit.
Wandisile Simelane’s 67th-minute try was crucial and Jordan Hendrikse, who kicked 13 points for the Lions in total, edged them into a lead they would not relinquish, with Munster pointless after the interval.
An early Jack Crowley penalty attempt fell just short but the Munster fly-half opened his account after Ryan burrowed over next to the posts for the game’s first try in the eighth minute.
Ryan was involved again as he and Niall Scannell demonstrated some excellent ball-carrying in the build-up to front-row colleague Josh Wycherley touching down, with Crowley again on target from the tee.
The Lions needed a spark to bring them back into the contest and it arrived when Burger Odendaal offloaded to Van Der Merwe and the wing showed tremendous strength to repel a Munster tackler and scamper down the left flank to score.
Hendrikse converted and added a subsequent penalty, reducing Munster’s lead to 14-10, but there was daylight between the sides once more when some great hands led to Fineen Wycherley crashing over at the end of the first half.
Alex Kendellen had a try chalked off due to a forward pass 10 minutes into the second half and the visitors will have been grateful for their strong start – and a couple of wasted Lions opportunities – as the unfamiliar conditions began to tell.
However, the Lions did start to take advantage of their tiring visitors and, after Hendrikse reduced the arrears to eight from the tee, Simelane was sent over down the right wing and Hendrikse made it a one-point game.
The Lions fly-half then fired the winning penalty, sending the home side into the lead for the first time six minutes from the end.
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Latest Comments
Nah, that just needs some more variation. Chip kicks, grubber stabs, all those. Will Jordan showed a pretty good reason why the rush was bad for his link up with BB.
If you have an overlap on a rush defense, they naturally cover out and out and leave a huge gap near the ruck.
It also helps if both teams play the same rules. ARs set the offside line 1m past where the last mans feet were😅
Go to commentsYeah nar, should work for sure. I was just asking why would you do it that way?
It could be achieved by outsourcing all your IP and players to New Zealand, Japan, and America, with a big Super competition between those countries raking it in with all of Australia's best talent to help them at a club level. When there is enough of a following and players coming through internally, and from other international countries (starting out like Australia/without a pro scene), for these high profile clubs to compete without a heavy australian base, then RA could use all the money they'd saved over the decades to turn things around at home and fund 4 super sides of their own that would be good enough to compete.
That sounds like a great model to reset the game in Aus. Take a couple of decades to invest in youth and community networks before trying to become professional again. I just suggest most aussies would be a bit more optimistic they can make it work without the two decades without any pro club rugby bit.
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