0'
The players are making their way on to the field. We are minutes away from kick off.
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Cardiff: 15 Matthew Morgan, 14 Owen Lane, 13 Rey Lee-Lo, 12 Ben Thomas, 11 Aled Summerhill, 10 Jarrod Evans, 9 Lloyd Williams, 8 James Botham, 7 Will Boyde, 6 Shane Lewis-Hughes, 5 Matthew Screech, 4 Josh Turnbull (captain), 3 Dmitri Arhip, 2 Kirby Myhill, 1 Corey Domachowski.
Replacements: 16 Kristian Dacey, 17 Brad Thyer, 18 Will Davies-King, 19 Rory Thornton, 20 Ellis Jenkins, 21 Jamie Hill, 22 Max Llewellyn, 23 Hallam Amos.
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Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Stean Pienaar, 13 Wandisile Simelane, 12 Burger Odendaal, 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Jordan Hendrikse, 9 Morne van den Berg, 8 Francke Horn, 7 Vincent Tshituka, 6 Jaco Kriel (captain), 5 Reinhard Nothnagel, 4 Ruben Schoeman, 3 Carlu Sadie, 2 Jaco Visagie, 1 Sithembiso Sithole.
Replacements: 16 PJ Botha, 17 JP Smith, 18 Ruan Dreyer, 19 Ruan Venter, 20 Emmanuel Tshituka, 21 Nico Steyn, 22 Manuel Rass, 23 Tiaan Swanepoel.
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The game will kick off at 16:00 SAST and 14:00 GMT. Join us then for all the live action. Team news will follow shortly.
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Welcome to the United Rugby Championship fixture between the Lions and Cardiff Blues at Ellis Park.
1'
KICK OFF! 0-0. Cardiff get proceedings underway in Johannesburg.
2'
TRY! LIONS! VAN DEN BERG! 5-0. Odendaal with a massive carry from the lineout, Lions get quick ball and Van den Berg goes around the ruck to score from close range.
2'
Great start by Hendrikse as he finds a 50/22/ Lions lineout deep inside Cardiff's 22.
3'
CONVERSION! HENDRIKSE! 7-0. The conversion is over form slight angle.
5'
Lions penalised for not rolling away. Evans will have a shot at goal from 40 meters out, straight in front. Visagie was the guilty party at the ruck.
6'
PENALTY! CARDIFF! EVANS! 7-3. Evans makes no mistake as he gets the visitors on the board.
8'
Penalty to the Lions this time, inside the Blues 22. The visitors strayed offside so Hendrikse will kick for goal.
9'
PENALTY! LIONS! HENDRIKSE! 10-3. Hendrikse slots the penalty to restore the seven point lead.
11'
Another penalty to Cardiff, again for not rolling. Blues will kick for goal
12'
PENALTY! CARDIFF! EVANS! 10-6. Evans converts another penalty.
14'
TRY! LIONS! VAN DER MERWE! 15-6. Massive error as Cardiff knock it on from the kick off. Lions collects and then get a penalty, which they tap and go. After three phases they go wide and Van der Merwe has plenty space to finish.
15'
CONVERSION! HENDRIKSE! 17-6. Good kick by Hendrikse from about 10 meters in from touch.
16'
Plenty penalties in this half. Cardiff are penalised on halfway for a high tackle. Hendrikse puts it into the Blues 22.
18'
Good defensive effort by Cardiff and they force a knock-on from Sithole.
21'
Williams eventually clears his line but the hosts still have a lineout deep in their half.
22'
TRY! LIONS! VAN DER MERWE! 22-6. My word, what a try. Van der Merwe finishes but that try is all down to the brilliance of Tshituka who got his hand through the tackle for a brilliant offload.
23'
CONVERSION! HENDRIKSE! 24-6. Hendrikse sinks yet another kick.
24'
Cardiff Blues win a penalty but turn down the points, they are going for all seven.
25'
Boyde goes over from the back of the maul but the TMO has a look and it is ruled out. Obstruction...Lions penalty.
29'
Lions playing some good stuff, good running angles and hands. But eventually they knock it on.
31'
50/22 for Cardiff, this is their chance to hit back.
32'
TRY! CARDIFF! SUMMERHILL! 24-11. This time the try will count, well worked by the visitors. Summerhill with a strong run to finish.
33'
CONVERSION! EVANS! 24-13. Evans converts from wide out to bring the scores with nine.
35'
Van den Berg takes a quick tap on halfway, he gets play close to the Cardiff 22. Unfortunately Odendaal knocks on a phase later.
38'
Cardiff growing into the game now as they go through seven phases inside the Lions half. Pienaar however does fantastic work on the ground to win a relieving penalty.
40'
HALF TIME! 24-13. The Lions made a blistering start and deservedly lead. But the final 15 minutes saw Cardiff grow into the game. It can still go either way.
40'
Hendrikse has the distance but not direction.
40'
With 20 seconds remaining Hendrikse has opted to have a shot at goal. He has placed the ball about 55 meters out.
41'
KICK OFF! 24-13. The second half is underway. Cardiff will want to score first here.
43'
Big turnover from the Lions on their own 22. Hendrikse clears his lines.
44'
TRY! CARDIFF! BOTHAM! 24-18. Cardiff come straight back at the Lions and eventually the hosts run out of defenders. Botham runs through to score.
45'
CONVERSION! EVANS! 24-20. Evans converts and Cardiff are right back in it. They will want to score next because the final 20 at altitude will be tough for the visitors.
47'
Lions win a penalty on halfway at the scrum. They need to half the visitors momentum here.
48'
PENALTY! LIONS! HENDRIKSE! 27-20. Hendrikse comfortably clears the posts to add three points.
49'
This time it is Cardiff who get the penalty on halfway. But they opt to go for the lineout.
51'
Summerhill breaks the line but great cover defence to force the Blues into touch. Lions are just about holding on here.
52'
Big defence from the Lions force a knock-on on their 22.
54'
Scrappy from both teams, it looked like there were three or four knock-ons, but ref says play on. It ends with a Lions scrum 10 meters from the Blues line.
57'
Lions penalty on the 22. Hendrikse will attempt to put the game beyond one score.
58'
PENALTY! LIONS! HENDRIKSE! 30-20. Lions now lead by two scores but they will want a bonus point try. Momentum is certainly with them at the moment.
60'
Another penalty on halfway to Cardiff and again they opt for the lineout. Still feel they should have gone for goal on the first attempt, let's see how it works out this time.
63'
Dacey is sent to the bin and the penalty turned around. His clean out made contact with the head of an opposition player.
63'
Third successive penalty on the Lions 5m line. The hosts must be nearing a yellow card.
67'
Plenty of stops in the game now. Referees in general need to sort this out, rugby games are getting longer and longer with less play time.
69'
Cardiff struggling to keep up any tempo now as they chase the game. Even more baffling is why they didn't take the three point opportunities.
73'
Lions still need a try for the bonus point. They scored all three their tries in the first quarter of the match.
77'
Lions holding onto possession inside Cardiff's territory. The visitors are going to have to score from deep if they are to score again.
80'
FULL TIME! 37-20. Lions take five points from the match but after a blistering start the Blues were on par with the hosts. They will rue the three point opportunities turned down but a good game overall.
80'
CONVERSION! HENDRIKSE! 37-20. Hendrikse converts.
80'
TRY! LIONS! TSHITUKA! 35-20. The Lions get the final score of the game. Tshituka dives over from close range.
Lions
Cardiff Rugby
4
Tries
2
1' Van Den Berg M...
13' Van Der Merwe...
21' Van Der Merwe...
80' Tshituka Vincent
30' Summerhill Aled
43' Botham James
4
Conversions
2
2' Hendrikse Jordan
14' Hendrikse Jordan
22' Hendrikse Jordan
80' Hendrikse Jordan
31' Evans Jarrod
44' Evans Jarrod
3
Penalties
2
8' Hendrikse Jordan
47' Hendrikse Jordan
58' Hendrikse Jordan
5' Evans Jarrod
11' Evans Jarrod
0
Drop Goals
0
0
Yellow Cards
0
0
Red Cards
0
15
Squad
30
Sithole Sithembiso
Visagie Jaco
Sadie Carlu
Schoeman Ruben
Nothnagel Reinhard
Kriel Jaco
Tshituka Vincent
Horn Francke
Van Den Berg Morne
Hendrikse Jordan
Van Der Merwe Edwill
Odendaal Burger
Simelane Wandisile
Pienaar Stean
Horn Quan
1
1
2
2
3
3
4
4
5
5
6
6
7
7
8
8
9
9
10
10
11
11
12
12
13
13
14
14
15
15
Domachowski Corey
Domachowski Corey
Myhill Kirby
Myhill Kirby
Arhip Dmitri
Arhip Dmitri
Turnbull Josh
Turnbull Josh
Screech Matthew
Screech Matthew
Lewis-Hughes Shane
Lewis-Hughes Shane
Boyde Will
Boyde Will
Botham James
Botham James
Williams Lloyd
Williams Lloyd
Evans Jarrod
Evans Jarrod
Summerhill Aled
Summerhill Aled
Thomas Ben
Thomas Ben
Lee-Lo Reynold
Lee-Lo Reynold
Lane Owen
Lane Owen
Morgan Matthew
Morgan Matthew
8
Reserves
8
Botha PJ
Smith Jean-Pierre
Dreyer Ruan Martin
Venter Ruan
Tshituka Emmanuel
Steyn Nico
Rass Manuel
Swanepoel Tiaan
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
Dacey Kristian
Thyer Brad
Davies-King Will
Thornton Rory
Jenkins Ellis
Hill Jamie
Llewellyn Max
Amos Hallam
