Lions win hard-fought battle against Elephants at Nelson Mandela Bay

Playing with 13 men after having two players red carded, EP’s gutsy Elephants put up a brave fight before three late tries allowed the Lions to surge to a 54-24 victory.

EP went into the game as massive underdogs and were able to hold their heads high when the final whistle sounded at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium. The Lions put some daylight between themselves and the home team right at the death with a try surge.

Reduced to 14 men after only two minutes when loose forward Arnold Kleyn was red-carded for a dangerous tackle, the Elephants refused to lie down.

There was more misery for EP after 52 minutes when CJ Velleman also received his matching orders.

As late as the 73rd minute, EP were still in the game when their captain Courtney Winnaar scored an intercept try.

As the game progressed it became more ill-tempered and referee AJ Jacobs warned both captains to tell their players to cut out the niggle. Though outnumbered, EP continued to take the fight to their opponents who struggled to find any continuity.

EP’s gutsy showing was well illustrated when hooker Robin Stevens scored a try for the home side in the 63rd minute against a frustrated Lions outfit.

It was another steep learning curve for a valiant young EP side who were more competitive than they were in their previous match when they were massacred 87-10 by the Bulls. EP got off to the worse possible start when Kleyn was red-carded. With the odds already stacked against them, the last thing EP needed was to be left a man short for almost the entire match.

Only five minutes later it was back to 14 vs 14 when Lions scrumhalf Dillon Smit was yellow-carded for stamping on the foot of an EP player.

It was costly card for the Lions because it robbed them of a try in the corner by James Mollentze.

With penalties mounting against EP, referee Jacobs lost his patience and awarded the Lions a penalty try in the 10th minute to give the visitors a 7-0 lead.

EP were on level terms five minutes later when Christopher Hollis raced through the Lions defence to bring his team back into the game.

A powerful Lions drive splintered the EP defence after 22 minutes which resulted in Dameon Venter crashing over for a try.

EP, however, would not lie down and Zingisa April rounded off an enterprising attack to score the Elephants’ second try in the 22nd minute.

After establishing a 21-12 halftime lead, the Lions were first to score in the second half when prop Nathan McBeth dotted down after a driving maul.

Ahead of the clash EP coach Peter de Villiers urged his team to put down a marker and they responded to his challenge with a gritty display. De Villiers made nine changes to his starting line-up for the game, and the switches had the desired effect.

The Lions fielded a team brimming with youngsters who caught the eye during the national U21 tournament. De Villiers will have been heartened that his team were far more competitive than they had been against the Bulls at Loftus.

Scorers:

EP Elephants 24: Tries: Christopher Hollis, Lungisa April, Robin Stevens, Courtney Winnaar. Conversions: Karlo Aspeling (2):

Lions 54: Tries: Penalty Try, (worth 7 points), Dameon Venter, Luke Rossouw, Nathan McBeth, Penalty Try (worth 7 points), Sibusiso Sangweni, Banele Mthenjane, Ngia Selengbe. Conversions: Tiaan Swanepoel (2), Jordan Hendrikse (3).