Lions maul sorry Stormers

A 13-minute first-half hat-trick by Madosh Tambwe wreaked havoc as the Lions thrashed the Stormers 52-31 at Ellis Park, Johannesburg.

This was vintage Lions rugby, winning every facet of the game, from the breakdown to the set-pieces and the tight phases – they were glorious.

Swys de Bruin’s Golden Lions put the Stormers to the sword in the City of Gold, scoring eight (8) tries in the fifty-point rout of Robbie Fleck’s team.

Tambwe starred, playing the game of his life as the Lions turned on the style.

The flyer scored four tries in 53 minutes before being subbed off to a standing ovation.

The Stormers were blown away from start to finish, conceding the first try after 53 seconds.

This is the 18th derby victory for last season’s runners-up, who last lost to South African opposition in 2015.

Stormers are blown away by Tanbwe treble.

A template for the rest of the afternoon was set when Tambwe gathered the kickoff, ran 60 metres to score inside a minute.

The winger was in for his second, in what felt like an age. He collected the ball at first receiver and barged over the whitewash.

Ruan Combrinck, back from injury, went close.

Tambwe gathered Andries Coetzee’s pin-point kick and sped away for his hat-trick.

This was finishing of the highest order, and not out of place in the pantheon of great try-scorers.

Stormers stop the rot.

Wilco Louw powered over Hacjivah Dayimani to put the visitors on the board, however, it was a false dawn.

Don’t poke the bear because six minutes’ later, it was 24-7, inside half-an-hour.

Lionel Mapoe beat Dillyn Leyds’ tackle and rolled over the goal-line for the fourth Lions try.

It came from Kwagga Smith’s turnover at the ruck and quick ball to Jantjies.

The fly-half broke, sent Mapoe away and the centre was rewarded with five points.

SP Marais reduced the deficit to two converted tries with a penalty.

It was inconsequential because Kwagga Smith killed ended the game as a contest with a fantastic try.

The Blitzboks legend’s angled run bamboozled the defenders.

He took Dillon Smit’s inside ball, handed off Steven Kitshoff – who endured a torrid time in the scrums – and Marais before dotting down under the posts.

The Lions increase the intensity after the break.

Fleck would have hoped the Lions would take their foot off the gas, instead, they cranked up the heavy metal and turned the screw.

The 21-point half-time lead soon became 28 when Franco Mostert combined with Marvin Orie after Elton Jantjies beat a defender and offloaded to the skipper’s boiler-room companion.

Then came a moment of magic by Tambwe, who again showed his prowess under the high-ball,

Jantjies’ speculative kick was claimed after a superbly timed jump, catching Damian Willemse off-guard.

After picking Willemse’s pocket, Tambwe claimed his fourth.

Willemse pit that poor play behind himself and crossed for a five-pointer of his own.

Return of the ‘Punisher’.

Combrinck, on his return, could not be stopped from his obligatory try.

The flyer cruised over after some slick handling by Jantjies and Coetzee to notch his side’s fifty.

Defenders were sucked in, creating space in the outside channels for the Springbok.

The final quarter was mostly played with the Stormers on the front foot and they were duly rewarded when Raymond Rhule’s spin-move left Lions defenders dizzy as Paul de Wet waltzed in.

Orie was sin-binned after three infringements left Jaco Peyper frustrated during the Stormers’ late siege.

The Lions held out as long as possible but eventually yielded a penalty try with the last, irrelevant play of the game.

Lions versus Stormers video highlights.

The Final score: Lions 52 (31) Stormers 31 (10)

Scorers

Lions
Tries – Tambwe (4), Mapoe, K. Smith, Mostert, Combrinck
Pen –
Con – Jantjies (6)
Drop –
Cards – Orie (Yellow, 77′)

Stormers
Tries – Louw, Willemse, De Wet, Penalty Try
Pen – Marais
Con – Marais (2), Willemse
Drop –
Cards –

Match Officials
Referee: Jaco Peyper
Assistant Ref 1: Rasta Rasivhenge
Assistant Ref 2: AJ Jacobs
TMO: Willie Vos

Teams

Lions

15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Ruan Combrinck, 13 Lionel Mapoe, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Madosh Tambwe, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Dillon Smit, 8 Hacjivah Dayimani, 7 Cyle Brink, 6 Albertus Smith, 5 Francois Mostert (captain), 4 Marvin Orie, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Dylan Smith.

Replacements: 16 Corne Fourie, 17 Jacques van Rooyen, 18 Johannes Jonker, 19 Lourens Erasmus, 20 Marnus Schoeman, 21 Marco Jansen van Vuren, 22 Howard Mnisi, 23 Sylvian Mahuza.

Stormers

15 Sarel Marais, 14 Dillyn Leyds, 13 EW Viljoen, 12 Damian De Allende, 11 Raymond Rhule, 10 Damian Willemse, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 Nizaam Carr, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siyamthanda Kolisi (captain), 5 Chris van Zyl, 4 Jan de Klerk, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Ramone Samuels, 1 Steven Kitshoff.

Replacements: 16 Siyabonga Ntubeni, 17 Jacobus Janse van Rensburg, 18 Carlu Sadie, 19 Kobus van Dyk, 20 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 21 Jaco Coetzee, 22 Paul de Wet, 23 Craig Barry.