Edinburgh embarrassed as Lions go at over a point a minute in remarkable first-half blitz
Lions wing Edwill van der Merwe and scrum-half Morne van den Berg celebrate a ty.
The Lions continued with their impressive start to the 2024/25 United Rugby Championship campaign when they claimed a 55-21 victory over Edinburgh at Emirates Airline Park in Johannesburg on Saturday.
The home side delivered a brilliant attacking performance during the opening half as they scored the bulk of their points during that period and held a comfortable 48-0 lead at half-time.
In the end, the Lions outscored their opponents by eight tries to three with Rabz Maxwane leading the way with a hat-trick while Edwill van der Merwe – who was playing in his first match since suffering a shoulder injury on his Springboks debut against Wales in June – next best with a brace.
Quan Horn, Francke Horn and Rynhardt Jonker also crossed the whitewash while Kade Wolhuter added a penalty and three conversions with Sanele Nohamba (2) and Morne van den Berg also amongst the points-scorers after succeeding with two-pointers off the kicking tee.
For Edinburgh, Grant Gilchrist, Patrick Harrison and Ben Muncaster went over for tries while Ben Healy slotted a couple of conversions and Ross Thompson also added one.
Click here for scorers
The result is an embarrassing one for Edinburgh, who have now lost their first three URC games – following previous defeats to Leinster and the Bulls – and the huge margin of their defeat is surprising as the Lions are considered the weakest of the South African sides in the tournament.
The home side were fastest out of the blocks and opened the scoring as early as the third minute courtesy of a Wolhuter penalty.
Five minutes later, they extended their lead when full-back Horn crossed for the opening try. Francke Horn, Van der Merwe and Van den Berg laid the groundwork with strong carries in the build-up before the ball was shifted wide and the Springboks outside back rounded off.
Although Wolhuter failed with the conversion attempt, the Lions continued to dominate and in the 14th minute they extended their lead. This, after JC Pretorius did well to draw in a couple of defenders before offloading to Maxwane, who beat Darcy Graham with a deft side step before dotting down.
Wolhuter added the extras which gave the home side a 15-0 lead which meant Edinburgh needed to score points if they wanted something from this encounter.
In the 17th minute the visitors came close to opening their account when Ewan Ashman went over the try-line – after a lineout deep inside Lions territory – but he was held up by two defenders while crossing the whitewash.
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That missed opportunity proved crucial as the hosts were soon rewarded with tries from Van der Merwe and Jonker in quick succession. And in the 31st minute Maxwane crossed for his second try after running onto a pass from Wolhuter, who left the field shortly afterwards due to a hamstring injury.
Nohamba came on to replace him but despite Wolhuter’s absence, the Lions would still have the upper-hand for the rest of the half and were rewarded with further tries from back-row Horn and Van der Merwe which meant they had their tails up at the interval.
To their credit, Edinburgh were more competitive after the break and they were fastest out of the blocks as Gilchrist crossed for his try just five minutes after the restart.
That score boosted their confidence and in the 51st minute they were rewarded again when Harrison went over for their second five-pointer from close quarters, after an extensive period camped inside their hosts’ 22.
The next 25 minutes was an arm wrestle as the sides went hammer and tongs at each other in a bid to gain the ascendancy before the Scottish capital outfit narrowed the gap via Muncaster’s five-pointer from close range.
Edinburgh upped the ante on attack in the closing stages as they went in search of a try-scoring bonus-point but the Lions finished stronger and sealed their win in the 72nd minute when Maxwane scored his third try.
The teams
Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Rabz Maxwane, 13 Erich Cronje, 12 Rynhardt Jonker, 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Kade Wolhuter, 9 Morne van den Berg, 8 Francke Horn (c), 7 Jarod Cairns, 6 JC Pretorius, 5 Darrien Landsberg, 4 Reinard Nothnagel, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 PJ Botha, 1 Juan Schoeman
Replacements: 16 Franco Marais, 17 Heiko Pohlmann, 18 Conraad van Vuuren, 19 Ruben Schoeman, 20 Renzo du Plessis, 21 Sanele Nohamba, 22 Marius Louw, 23 Henco van Wyk
Edinburgh: 15 Wes Goosen, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Mosese Tuipulotu, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Ross McCann, 10 Ben Healy, 9 Ben Vellacott (cc), 8 Magnus Bradbury, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Jamie Ritchie, 5 Grant Gilchrist (cc), 4 Marshall Sykes, 3 Paul Hill, 2 Ewan Ashman, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements: 16 Patrick Harrison, 17 Boan Venter, 18 D’Arcy Rae, 19 Jamie Hodgson, 20 Ben Muncaster, 21 Ali Price, 22 Ross Thompson, 23
Referee: Adam Jones (WRU)
Assistant Referees: Henru van Rooyen (SARU), Stephan Geldenhuys (SARU)
TMO: Keith David (WRU)