Cruel ending for the Lions sees Leinster extend their unbeaten run

Leinster battled back from 15 points down to preserve their unbeaten URC record this season and secure a last-gasp 39-36 victory over the Lions. It was a cruel ending for the Lions who were exciting in attack and crossed for tries through Edwill van der Merwe, Gianni Lombard, Marius Louw and Francke Horn as well as being awarded a penalty try but the defeat was a blow to their playoff hopes.

Vakhtang Abdaladze, Liam Turner, Michael Milne, Rob Russell and Chris Cosgrave went over for Leinster as the Irish province secured a 16th win from 17 games. It took Leinster just two minutes to open the scoring.

Abdaladze celebrated his first start for Leinster as he burst clear and had a 30-metre run to the line to touch down under the posts. Sam Prendergast added the straightforward conversion.

The Lions hit back after 13 minutes when Sanele Nohamba’s pass after a lineout-out win set wing van der Merwe away and he broke through a series of weak Leinster tackles to score and Nohamba sent his conversion attempt off the post.

The home side defended resolutely and after soaking up Leinster pressure, Lombard scored his first URC try to give the Lions the lead. The fly-half kicked a loose ball forward and chased it down himself to touch down with Nohamba’s conversion putting the Lions 12-7 ahead.

Rob Russell reaches over and secures the try for @leinsterrugby! ? #BKTURC #URC | #LIOvLEI pic.twitter.com/0L6LQ5hiVP

— BKT United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial) April 15, 2023

Back came Leinster and the ball was played along the backs to outside centre Turner, who spotted a gap in the Lions backline to burst clear and touch down in the corner with Prendergast restoring Leinster’s lead.

But a minute later the Lions responded with a superb try. Lombard burst clear and offloaded to van der Merwe, who sold a dummy to break clear and play a short pass to Nohamba and his behind-the-back pass found Louw to run in unopposed.

They extended their advantage when number eight Horn burst through four tackles to score in the corner and secure the bonus point.

Leinster, who announced on Saturday that Springboks head coach Jacques Nienaber will join Leo Cullen’s staff next season, cut the gap six minutes after the break as they took advantage of pressure deep in the Lions half when Milne carried the ball from the back of a ruck to dive over.

The Lions were then awarded a penalty try after Cosgrave was yellow-carded for a deliberate knock-on to extend their lead to 15 points.

Prendergast booted a penalty before his delightful chip enabled Russell to gather and score in the right corner as Leinster rallied before Cosgrave weaved his way through and Prendergast’s kick levelled the scores. Prendergast then sent over a penalty with the last kick of the game to win it.