Lions hit their straps to blow away Ulster in statement URC victory

The Lions had the perfect riposte for their critics on Saturday afternoon when they crushed Ulster 49-31 with a rousing performance that will lift their spirits and confidence considerably.

Ulster came to Ellis Park with the scalps of the Bulls and the Sharks, and were tipped to continue their dominance over South African opposition. But it wasn’t to be, as the Lions at last found the rhythm that had eluded them this season.

The Lions made the ideal start to the match — in fact, they produced by some margin their best passage of play of the season. Strong counter-rucking earned them a penalty, which was kicked to the corner. The lineout was won neatly, the maul was precise, and then the forwards rumbled it up for prop SJ Kotze to crash over.

The Lions were 7-0 up after barely two minutes of play, but then did what so often drives their fans crazy — they undid the good work from the restart, allowing Ulster wing Robert Baloucoune to carve through the defence for a spectacular 50m try.

The Lions struck straight back with another well-worked effort. Powerful pick-and-goes by the forwards gave fly-half Chris Smith front-foot ball, and he flung a sweeping pass out to full-back Quan Horn, who offloaded nicely in the tackle to Eduan Keyter, who finished strongly.

We had seen 21 points in just nine minutes of rugby. That became 28 points in 24 minutes when Ulster centre James Hume scored under the crossbar after grounding a chip over the top of the defence from full-back Michael Lowry.

The Lions suffered a serious blow when strong-scrumming Asenathi Ntlabakanye was yellow-carded for a high tackle in the 26th minute.

Yet a minute later they earned a scrum penalty, and soon after, a penalty won at a ruck was kicked over by Smith for a 17-14 lead.

Ulster finished the half stronger. The Lions forwards weathered a two-minute siege on their line, but when the ball was suddenly swept out wide, Baloucoune finished superbly at the corner flag for his second.

Ulster led 19-17 at the break.

The Lions started the second half promisingly. A scrum penalty was kicked to the corner; the lineout maul was stopped just short, but another penalty gave the Lions a scrum in front of the posts. They hammered away at the Ulster line, and eventually flank Ruan Venter powered over. The Lions were back in front at 24-19.

Smith made it 27-19 with a well-struck 45m penalty.

Just as it looked like the Lions were stretching away, Ulster showed their class with a beautiful passage of play that culminated in Baloucoune once more finishing in the corner to complete his hat-trick.

But the Lions’ scrum dominance continued, and as the game hit the three-quarter mark, a penalty won in the Ulster 22 resulted in replacement flank Renzo du Plessis scrambling over.

The Lions were 34-24 up, but they kept Ulster in the game when they were penalised for a lineout infringement. The gifted possession resulted in a try for David McCann.

Henco van Wyk gave his team some breathing space when he ran an excellent line off a ruck to explode over the line. Gianni Lombard missed the conversion, but with eight minutes to go, the home side had an eight-point cushion.

The Ulstermen were flagging as altitude took its toll, and replacement prop Conrad van Vuuren barrelled over for his team’s sixth try. The visitors were out on their feet when, as the hooter sounded, Van Vuuren powered over for his second.

Scorers

Lions — Tries: SJ Kotze, Eduan Keyter. Ruan Venter, Renzo du Plessis, Henco van Wyk, Conraad van Vuuren (2). Conversions: Chris Smith (4). Penalties: Smith (2).

Ulster — Tries: Robert Balaocoune (3), David McCann. Conversions: Nathan Doak (4). Penalty: Doak.