This match will be the third Super Rugby match ever between the Kings and the Lions as they only met twice last year.
Match detail
We are waiting for the kick-off.
BEEP! We are off in PE.
1.00: TRY Andisa Ntsila! The Lions in possession in their own half but Ntsila who goes all the way to score after collecting his charge-down kick of Coetzee’s attempted clearance. Cronje adds the two.
3.00: TRY Madosh Tambwe! Another interception, this time to the visitors.
4.00: Jantjies levels the scores. What a start. Messy.
7.00: It’s another helter-skelter Super Rugby affair in Port Elizabeth. Both teams playing fast and loose.
10.00: A deliberate knock down by the Kings and, it’s a penalty to the Lions. They opt for a kick to the corner. Has any team attempted a penalty, other than the standard one to open the game.
12.00: TRY Malcolm Marx! The hooker gets his fourth try of the season. The Lions driving over from the maul. Standard.
13.00: Jantjies adds the conversion from out wide.
14.00: The reset kick is cleared by Coetzee and the Kings work their way forward from their 10. Cronje searching for some territory but it’s cleared by Jantjies.
15.00: Lions earn a penalty on the Kings’ try-line. They go quick and score.
15.00: TRY Elton Jantjies! The Springbok flyhalf goes over after taking Faf de Klerk’s pass from quick ball at the breakdown.
16.00: Jantjies adds another conversion. His third inside the opening quarter.
18.00: TRY Yaw Penxe! The winger scores on debut after a wonderful break by Andisa Ntsila, who broke a tackle charged into the 22 and sent the 19-year-old over in the corner. Cronje can’t add the extras.
21.00: Five tries inside the opening 20 minutes. Catch your breath or you will miss it.
24.00: TRY Madosh Tambwe! It’s a double for the winger after he takes Andries Coetzee’s offload in the tackle; easy as you like.
25.00: Jantjies kicks it over from the corner.
28.00: The Lions look like scoring everytime they get the ball. TMO is in play. Foul play being discussed. Quinton Immelman sees nothing and it’s a line-out to the Kings inside their 22.
30.00: Kings win the maul – “use it or lose it!” cries the ref.
32.00: Penalty at the scrum and Jantjies kicks to the corner.
33.00: Another infringement; this time “playing the nine without the ball”. Chris Cloete is the man.
34.00: TRY Jaco Kriel! The flanker barges his way through the broken maul and scores the Lions’ fifth try.
35.00: Jantjies slots his fifth conversion, he has 15 points already.
38.00: Kings have a scrum inside their 22 and, win a penalty. The clearance eases the pressure but, you feel, it is futile already.
40.00: The Kings clear a line-out but, Cronje’s clearance is not out. Lions with the ball.
The hooter sounds and Quinton Immelman calls time on the opening stanza. Great half of attacking rugby but, not one for the purist.
The halftime score was Kings 12 Lions 35
BEEP! We are back underway in PE.
42.00: Some early scrum issues but, the Kings win a penalty and opt for touch.
44.00: TRY Malcolm Jaer! The fullback uses his pace and fancy footwork to slip through the Lions defence. It started from a break by Penxe and some deft hands from Cronje.
45.00: Cronje adds the conversion.
46.00: The Kings almost get another but, the ball is out into touch. Who knows? There might be a comeback on the cards.
50.00: The Kings have a scrum just outside their 22 but, they give away a free-kick; Lions ball in good field position.
52.00: The ref awards a penalty for a collapsed scrum. Jantjies kicks it to the corner and the Lions will go to their maul.
53.00: The throw is wayward, Cronje collects the loose ball and Schreuder clears.
56.00: The Kings are on the charge inside the Lions’22; they get the advantage. A scuffle breaks out. Ruan Dreyer is penalised for collapsing.
57.00: Oh dear, another lost ball, knocked on by the Kings on the opposition’s 5.
59.00: The Lions smash the Kings’ scrum and win a penalty to clear their lines; good kick from Jantjies too. The Lions change their props. Dreyer and Jacques van Rooyen make way for Sithembiso Sithole and Hencus van Wyk.
61.00: Kings starting to empty their bench too. Michael Willemse and Chris Heiberg are on in the front row.
62.00: Hencus van Wyk makes a burst into the Kings’ 22. Great run by the big man. Andries Ferreira collects the offload and looks to have scored. The TMO is checking to see if it was grounded. No try, knock on.
63.00: The right call, it looked to be lost in the act of grounding. Scrum Kings on their 5. Jaer and Lerm are off for Stefan Willemse and Luzuko Vulindlu.
Dillon Smit replaces Courtnall Skosan and Coetzee goes to flyhalf in place of Jantjies who is off for Sylvian Mahuza
66.00: Scrum infield to the Kings.
67.00: Lionel Cronje is down after a big hit by Harold Vorster. Armand van der Merwe is on for Marx at hooker and Lourens Erasmus replaces Franco Mostert.
70.00: Lions have an attacking line-out on theKings’ 5. Again, they lose it in the set-piece. Lions have been poor in the second half.
73.00: Another poor line-out will have Ackerman stewing in the coaches’ box. The handling has been poor by the visitors in since the break. Jacques Nel is on for Harold Vorster and Rohan Janse van Rensburg, who has been quiet, is off for Albertus Smith.
74.00: The referee is getting some choice words from the players about his calls. Kings’ scrum and they clear. The ref asked Cronje to calm his players down.
76.00: TRY Harold Vorster! Finally, a line-out is taken, Warren Whiteley gives Jaco Kriel the ball on an angled run, the flanker ghosts through, draws a defender and puts Vorster away.
77.00: Coetzee adds the conversion from in front.
80.00: Line-out to the Kings with time up. They will look for a driving maul.
81.00: Hooter goes and Lions clear, that’s the game.
The final score is Kings 19 (12) Lions 42 (35)
Scorers
Kings
Tries – Ntsila, Penxe, Jaer
Pen –
Con – Cronje (2)
Drop –
Cards –
Lions
Tries – Tambwe (2), Marx, Jantjies, Kriel, Vorster
Pen –
Con – Jantjies (5), Coetzee
Drop –
Cards –
Match Officials
Referee: Quinton Immelman
Assistant Ref 1: Rasta Rasivhenge
Assistant Ref 2: Egon Seconds
TMO: Shaun Veldsman
Teams
Southern Kings
15 Malcolm Jaer, 14 Yaw Penxe, 13 Berton Klaasen, 12 Waylon Murray, 11 Alshaun Bock, 10 Lionel Cronje (captain), 9 Louis Schreuder, 8 Ruaan Lerm, 7 Andisa Ntsila, 6 Chris Cloete, 5 Wilhelm van der Sluys, 4 Irne Herbst, 3 Ross Geldenhuys, 2 Kurt Haupt, 1 Schalk van der Merwe
Replacements: 16 Michael Willemse, 17 Chris Heiberg, 18 Justin Forwood, 19 Tyler Paul, 20 Stefan Willemse, 21 Johan Steyn, 22 Pieter-Steyn de Wet, 23 Luzuko Vulindlu
Lions
15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Madosh Tambwe, 13 Harold Vorster, 12 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 11 Courtnall Skosan, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Francois de Klerk, 8 Warren Whiteley (captain), 7 Ruan Ackermann, 6 Jaco Kriel, 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Andries Ferreira, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Jacques van Rooyen
Replacements: 16 Armand van der Merwe, 17 Sithembiso Sithole, 18 Hencus van Wyk, 19 Lourens Erasmus, 20 Albertus Smith, 21 Dillon Smit, 22 Jacques Nel, 23 Sylvian Mahuza
