Lions player ratings: Springboks prospect the ‘hero of the day’ as Venter’s ‘brain explosion’ almost cost the Joburgers
Lions scrum-half Hamish Pead and an inset of flanker Ruan Venter.
Following the Lions’ 22-23 come-from-behind win over the Sharks in Durban, here’s how we rated the Joburgers in the United Rugby Championship clash.
Lions player ratings v Sharks
15 Quan Horn: Safe as ever in the backfield, getting his side out of a load of trouble. Added another threat to the Lions‘ attack that found a way around the Sharks‘ press. 6
14 Kelly Mpeku: He was put under pressure by Grant Williams’ box kicks, but it was when he got into space with ball in hand that he shone. Reasonably sound in defence too. 6
13 Erich Cronje: The Lions centres can take a lot of pride from their performance today against the Springboks pairing of Andre Esterhuizen and Ethan Hooker. Cronje defended superbly and made good decisions with the ball in hand while punching it up into the line well too. 7
12 Bronson Mills: Got the better of Esterhuizen in the head-to-head battle as he fronted up to the Bok defensively and varied his attack brilliantly. Gained over 40 metres and beat six defenders while kicking smartly too. Competition is mightily stiff for a Test call-up but the 22-year-old is banging on the door at the moment. Much of what the Lions did right today came through their number 12. 8
11 Angelo Davids: Gassed by Edwill van der Merwe but like Mpeku, he had success with the ball in hand. Also had his aerial issues, but was solid enough. 5
10 Chris Smith: Like Jordan Hendrikse, he had his issues off the tee but was accurate enough to see his side to victory and seal the win. A supporting act for much of the game, but he does that role well as he marshalled the Lions to victory with a competent kicking game. 6
9 Morne van den Berg: Kept the tempo of the Lions’ attack but wasted several opportunities with misplaced or mistimed kicks. Still, not a poor game from the Bok number nine. 6
The forwards
8 Francke Horn (c): Took his try well after the brilliance of his loose trio partner. He is very effective in the extremities and was busy on defence. 7
7 Ruan Venter: Blew red hot and then ice cold as he made a cracking break in the build-up to Oosthuizen’s try and then shunted off Makazole Mapimpi and got a stunning offload away to send Horn flying over for the second. However, he undid all his superb work with a simply reckless hit on Aphelele Fassi and was red-carded for his actions – robbing his side of the best player on the park to that point. A real brain explosion that could have been incredibly costly if it weren’t for the bench’s heroics. 4
6 Jarod Cairns: Guilty of missing four tackles while only making six but did contribute with strong carries. Replaced in the 65th minute after an average shift. 5
5 Ruben Schoeman: Needs to cop some of the blame for the misfiring lineout while he did get stuck into the rucks effectively. Made way on the hour mark. 5
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4 Etienne Oosthuizen: Spun out a tackle near the try-line to score against his former employers. A stupid penalty for pushing Fassi gifted the Sharks an opportunity which they ruthlessly capitalised on. Good mixed in with the bad throughout his shift, but more of the former. 6
3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye: Landed some hammering hits on defence and regularly drew in defenders with his carries after being driven backwards early on. He did well to keep the destructive Ox Nche at bay in the scrums; a massive shift from the Bok tighthead. 8
2 PJ Botha: The lineout was an issue for the Lions today and as mentioned above it wasn’t all the hooker’s doing but it is an area of concern. Did well in defence, coming up with a key turnover. 6
1 Eddie Davids: Did concede a penalty at scrum time but didn’t struggle at the set-piece. A rather quiet shift but not a poor one. 5
Replacements: After a great start to the game, the Lions collapsed and gifted the Sharks opportunities to take the lead. This meant that the bench had a lot to do in order to get the win, and they rose to the occasion. Siba Qoma was a standout, but ultimately, the Springboks prospect and Junior Bok superstar Haashim Pead was the hero of the day, scoring the match-winner at the death, capping off an influential impact. 8
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