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Lions roar back in second half to sink Munster

By PA
Alex Kendellan of Munster with the ball during the United Rugby Championship match between Emirates Lions and Munster at Emirates Airline Park (Photo by Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images/Getty Images)

Munster faded after making a strong start as they slipped to a 23-21 United Rugby Championship defeat to the Lions in Johannesburg.

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Props John Ryan and Josh Wycherley touched down as the visitors opened up a 14-0 lead in the first quarter and they led 21-10 at the break thanks to Fineen Wycherley’s try late in the half, with Edwill van der Merwe having crossed for the hosts.

However, the heat and altitude looked to be taking their toll on Munster as the second half progressed and the home side eventually started to eat away at the deficit.

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Wandisile Simelane’s 67th-minute try was crucial and Jordan Hendrikse, who kicked 13 points for the Lions in total, edged them into a lead they would not relinquish, with Munster pointless after the interval.

An early Jack Crowley penalty attempt fell just short but the Munster fly-half opened his account after Ryan burrowed over next to the posts for the game’s first try in the eighth minute.

Ryan was involved again as he and Niall Scannell demonstrated some excellent ball-carrying in the build-up to front-row colleague Josh Wycherley touching down, with Crowley again on target from the tee.

The Lions needed a spark to bring them back into the contest and it arrived when Burger Odendaal offloaded to Van Der Merwe and the wing showed tremendous strength to repel a Munster tackler and scamper down the left flank to score.

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Hendrikse converted and added a subsequent penalty, reducing Munster’s lead to 14-10, but there was daylight between the sides once more when some great hands led to Fineen Wycherley crashing over at the end of the first half.

Alex Kendellen had a try chalked off due to a forward pass 10 minutes into the second half and the visitors will have been grateful for their strong start – and a couple of wasted Lions opportunities – as the unfamiliar conditions began to tell.

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However, the Lions did start to take advantage of their tiring visitors and, after Hendrikse reduced the arrears to eight from the tee, Simelane was sent over down the right wing and Hendrikse made it a one-point game.

The Lions fly-half then fired the winning penalty, sending the home side into the lead for the first time six minutes from the end.

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H
Hellhound 14 minutes ago
South Africa player ratings | 2024 Autumn Nations Series

There is this thing going around against Siya Kolisi where they don't want him to be known as the best national captain ever, so they strike him down in ratings permanently whenever they can. They want McCaw and reckons he is the best captain ever. I disagree.


Just like they refuse to see SA as the best team and some have even said that should the Boks win a third WC in a row, they will still not be the best team ever. Even if they win every game between now and the WC. That is some serious hate coming SA's way.


Everyone forget how the McCaw AB's intimidated refs, was always on the wrong side, played on the ground etc. Things they would never have gotten away with today. They may have a better win ratio, but SA build depth, not caring about rank inbetween WC's until this year.


They weren't as bad inbetween as people claim, because non e of their losses was big ones and they almost never faced the strongest Bok team outside of the WC, allowing countries like France and Ireland to rise to the top unopposed.


Rassie is still at it, building more depth, getting more young stars into the fold. By the time he leaves (I hope never) he will leave a very strong Bok side for the next 15- 20 years. Not everyone will play for 20 years, but each year Rassie acknowledge the young stars and get them involved and ready for international rugby.


Not everyone will make it to the WC, but those 51/52 players will compete for those spots for the WC. They will deliver their best. The future of the Boks is in very safe hands. The only thing that bothers me is Rassie's health. If he can overcome it, rugby looks dark for the rest of the rugby world. He is already the greatest coach in WR history. By the time he retires, he will be the biggest legend any sport has ever seen

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J
JW 29 minutes ago
'They smelt it': Scott Robertson says Italy sensed All Blacks' vulnerability

No where to be seen OB!


The crosses for me for the year where (from memory);


This was a really hard one to nail down as the first sign of a problem, now that I've asked myself to think about it. I'd say it all started with his decision to not back form and fit players after all the injuries, and/or him picking players for the future, rather ones that could play right now.


First he doesn't replace Perofeta straight away (goes on for months in the team) after injury against England, second he falls back to Beauden Barrett to cover at fullback against Fiji, then he drops Narawa the obvious choice to have started, then he brings in Jordan too soon. That Barret selection (and to a lesser extent Bell's) set the tone for the year.


Then he didn't get the side up for Argentina. They were blown away and didn't look like they expected a fight and were well beaten despite the scoreline in my opinion. Worst performance of the year in the forth game and..


Basically the same problems were persistent, or even exaggerated, after that with the players he did select not given much of an opportunity, with this year having the most number of unused subs I can remember since the amateur days.


What I think I started to realise early on was that he didn't back himself and his team. I think he prepared the players well, don't get me wrong, but I'll credit him with making a conscious choice in tempering his ambition and instead choosing cohesion and to respect (the idea of it being important in himself and his players) experience first and foremost (after two tight games and that 4th game loss). I think he chose wrong in deciding not to be, and back, himself. Hard criticism.


And it played out by preferring Beauden to Dmac on the EOYT (though that may have been a planned move).


I hope I'm right, because going through all the little things of the season and coming up with these bullets, I've got to wonder when I say his last fault is one we have seen at the Crusaders, playing his best players into the ground. What I'm really scared of now is that not wanting a bit of freshness in this last game could be linked with all these other crosses that I want to put down to simple confidence issues. But are they really a sign that he just lacks vision?


Now, that's not to say I haven't seen a lot of positives as well, I just think that for the ABs to go where they want to go he has to fix these crosses. Just have difficult that will be is the question.

23 Go to comments
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