Springboks flyer grabs crucial try as Lions slay Zebre in horrendous conditions
Springboks wing Edwill van der Merwe launches an attack for the Lions.
Springboks flyer Edwill van der Merwe was the Lions’ hero as he crossed for the only try during their 10-9 victory over Zebre Parma in Saturday’s United Rugby Championship clash at Stadio Lanfranchi.
The match was played in atrocious weather conditions with heavy rain pouring down for most of the match and apart from Van der Merwe’s try, the Lions’ other points came via a penalty and a conversion from Sanele Nohamba.
For the home side, Giovanni Montemauri succeeded with three penalties. The result means the Lions continue with their outstanding start to the season having now won all four of their matches of the 2024/25 URC campaign so far.
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Both teams struggled to adapt to the weather conditions but the home side held a slight edge during the early exchanges.
Zebre Parma eventually opened the scoring in the 16th minute when Montemauri slotted his first penalty and their lead was a deserved one as they held the upper hand at that stage.
Five minutes later, the home side’s fly-half doubled his side’s lead courtesy of another three-pointer off the kicking tee after the Lions strayed offside on defence.
Despite trailing on the scoreboard, the men from Johannesburg did not panic as they were competitive in most facets of play and in the 27th minute they opened their account with a well-taken try.
The Lions forwards deserve plenty of credit for their role in the score as they initially set up several phases deep inside Zebre’s 22. The ball was then shifted to their backs and Marius Louw found Van der Merwe with a skip pass before the Springbok flyer beat Jacopo Trulla with quick feet and crossed in the left-hand corner.
Nohamba showed his class as he slotted the difficult conversion from close to the touchline and that converted try boosted the visitors’ confidence as they dominated the closing stages of the opening stanza.
Just before half-time, Zebre were blown up for a defensive indiscretion inside their half and Nohamba stepped up to take the goal-kick but his effort was wide of the mark which meant the Lions held a slender 7-6 lead at the interval.
Despite that missed shot at goal, the Lions came out firing after the break and they were soon camped inside their hosts’ 22. Although they could not score another five-pointer, Zebre infringed on defence and Nohamba slotted another penalty in the 44th minute to extend his side’s lead to four points.
Four minutes later, Zebre reduced the deficit to one point again when Montemauri added his third penalty after the Lions were caught offside on defence again.
With the weather conditions not improving, the rest of this match was a slugfest as the sides battled to gain the ascendancy but neither team would add further points.
Zebre had a golden opportunity to take the lead when they were awarded a penalty in the 72nd minute. Montemauri lined up a shot at goal from about 35 metres out but his effort was wide of the mark and the Lions breathed a huge sigh of relief.
The closing stages were tense as Zebre went in search of the win but they were met by a resilient defensive effort from their opponents who held on for their narrow triumph.
The teams
Zebre Parma: 15 Geronimo Prisciantelli, 14 Jacopo Trulla, 13 Giulio Bertaccini, 12 Luca Morisi, 11 Simone Gesi, 10 Giovanni Montemauri, 9 Alessandro Fusco, 8 Giovanni Licata, 7 Iacopo Bianchi, 6 Davide Ruggeri, 5 Andrea Zambonin, 4 Matteo Canali, 3 Juan Pitinari, 2 Tommaso Di Bartolomeo, 1 Danilo Fischetti (c)
Replacements: 16 Luca Bigi, 17 Luca Rizzoli, 18 Matteo Nocera, 19 Leonard Krumov, 20 Luca Andreani, 21 Giacomo Milano, 22 Gonzalo Garcia, 23 Fetuli Paea
Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Richard Kriel, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Marius Louw, 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Sanele Nohamba, 9 Morne van den Berg, 8 Francke Horn (c), 7 Jarod Cairns, 6 JC Pretorius, 5 Ruben Schoeman, 4 Reinhard Nothnagel, 3 Conraad van Vuuren, 2 Jaco Visagie, 1 Juan Schoeman
Replacements: 16 PJ Botha, 17 Heiko Pohlmann, 18 RF Schoeman, 19 Ruan Delport, 20 Renzo du Plessis, 21 Nico Steyn, 22 Erich Cronje, 23 Rabz Maxwane
Referee: Ben Connor (WRU)
Assistant Referees: Ben Whitehouse (WRU), Rhys Jones (WRU)
TMO: Aled Griffiths (WRU)
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