There’s a reason scrum dominance is often referred to as slow poison and the visiting Ospreys found that to their cost as the 10Bet Lions ran out comfortable 35-19 victors in their second Vodacom United Rugby Championship match at Ellis Park on Saturday.
When it happens in the heat and with the double whammy of altitude and an early afternoon kick-off heaped on top of that, you can in fact probably take poison on the team that has the best scrum and maul is prepared to use those weapons to wear down their opponents and take their legs away will put the game away in the latter stages.
Which is exactly what happened, although the Lions didn’t have to wait until the latter stages - they turned the screws impressively in the early minutes of the second half and that was effectively when they turned the tide inexorably in their favour. That was after the Lions had always had the advantage at forward in the first half but struggled a bit with the co-ordination of their game and were a bit laboured with their recycling.
The Ospreys only managed 30 per cent possession in that period, but like against the Sharks the previous week, they made the most of the ball they did have as they came back from a 10-0 deficit after 34 minutes to score two tries that grabbed them an unlikely 12-10 lead at halftime.
It would be wrong to applaud the Ospreys just for attacking efficiency in the opening 40 minutes. They also made the Lions battle because of their commitment to getting in over the Lions ball at the breakdowns.
CRONJE MAKES IT THREE TRIES IN TWO STARTS
The Lions did score a good backline try in the 28th minute, with Erich Cronje adding to his two tries against Leinster in the opening game by jetting over in the left corner after a superb soft hands off-load from flanker JC Pretorius. Junior Bok Ethan Adams had created the initial tbalhrust with a surge down the right side of the field before the ball was transferred to the left.
That converted try added to an early penalty from Chris Smith, although it was not a great game from the kicking game for the usual immaculate Lions flyhalf. He missed the conversions of the three third quarter tries that transformed the game in the Lions’ favour, with the Lions correctly choosing the direct route and for that read the maul, something that netted a 42nd minute try to hooker PJ Botha and then Morne Brandon followed up off an equally dominant maul a few minutes later.
Slow poison can be applied as a description when the maul is working too, and that it was, in addition to a scrum that destroyed the opposition eight at crucial moments and netted penalties for the team.
The two early second half maul tries could be seen as a riposte to the impressive maul try dotted down by hooker Ethan Daniels that grabbed the Ospreys the halftime lead after a few minutes earlier the Ospreys centre had combined well beneath the Lions posts to exploit some lax home defence, with Kieran Williams going in for the score.
SMITH’S RARE OFF DAY DIDN’T MATTER
Smith’s failure to do what he usually does by converting from everywhere meant the Ospreys were still in the game for longer than they should have been, even after fullback Boeta Chamberlain was put in for the fourth try in the 57th minute courtesy of a smart chicken wing pass in the tackle from skipper Francke Horn. It could have been Lions out of sight, but the Ospreys were still within two converted tries of regaining the lead.
That possibility though was put to bed by none other than Smith, who off yet another dominant attacking scrum put through a perfect kick onto wing Kelly Mpeku to score in the corner. With the lead out to 18 points by then, and just 16 minutes remaining, it didn’t feel like it mattered that much that once again Smith was off target, although from an acute angle.
The kick that set up the Mpeku try came at a point when the Ospreys had just been reduced to 14 men by a yellow card as the pressure applied by the hosts as they headed into the final quarter of the game started to impact the visiting team’s discipline.
The Ospreys aren’t a team that ever gives up but it looked like their legs were gone when almost immediately after Mpeku’s first try he was put in by a good buildup in which the running and passing was impressive. By this time skipper Horn had decided he’d had enough of Smith’s misses, and handed the ball to Chamberlain to attempt the conversion. Like Smith had done with an earlier attempt, he hit the post. But the fact the Lions were only leading by 23 when they should have been ahead by more than 30 had become elementary by then and it would be churlish to make too much of the kicking misses.
Of course, on another day they could be costly, but the players don’t need to be told that and it is unlikely either Smith or Chamberlain will kick such a shower again. And for the Lions it is nine points out of a possible 10 from their first two games and they have rarely if ever started this well so all is good as the Johannesburg club heads towards their first ever Investec Champions Cup game two weeks from now.
Ross Moriarty did dot down off the final move of the game but it was a consolation try only and the Lions were comprehensive winners.
Scores
10Bet Lions 35 - Tries: Erich Cronje, PJ Botha, Morne Brandon, Boeta Chamberlain and Kelly Mpeku 2; Conversion: Chris Smith; Penalty: Chris Smith. Ospreys 19 - Tries: Kieran Williams, Ethan Daniels and Ross Moriarty; Conversions: Dan Edwards 2.