Lions beat Leinster in Johannesburg for first time — TimesLIVE

In South Africa, rugby club Lions defeated reigning United Rugby Championship champions Leinster in Johannesburg for the first time in five head-to-head matches. The decisive moment of the match at Ellis Park was created by fly-half Chris Smith: late in the game, he delivered a cross-field kick to the unmarked right winger Kelly, who scored a try.

As TimesLIVE reports, Smith also kicked two penalties and made three conversions. Left winger Erich Cronje scored two tries for the Lions, while right winger Kelly added another.

Turning point after the break

In the middle of the second half, Leinster led 19:17 but came under pressure in their own 22-metre area. The Irish team survived two attempts to block a kick as it tried to kick the ball into touch, but was unable to regain the initiative afterwards.

Leinster had nearly 60% possession and 11 entries into the opponent's 22-metre area, compared with seven for the Lions. At the same time, the hosts made 178 tackles, while their opponents made 100. Centre Henco van Wyk made a break and also completed an important tackle that prevented an opponent from scoring a try.

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Leinster lineup

Lions head coach Ivan van Rooyen acknowledged that his team did not contain the opponents' pace in the first half. According to him, after the break the players stopped Leinster's attacks better and were able to apply pressure to their opponents differently.

For Leinster, scrum-half Fintan Gunn scored a hat-trick of tries, while Steven Smith added another try. The team fielded a weakened lineup that included six academy players. Leinster coach Leo Cullen said his players were pleased with many aspects of their first-half performance, but lost some of their momentum after the break.

In the next round, the Lions will host Ospreys, while Leinster will travel to Durban for a match against Sharks.