United Rugby Championship: Lions 44 - 12 Leinster - Lions secure bonus-point win against URC league leaders

The Lions utilised a fast start to hand Leinster just a third defeat of the season at Emirates Airline Park.

The United Rugby Championship leaders had won eight in a row in all competitions before the loss that saw them ship six tries.

The Lions scored three times in the opening quarter of an hour and wrapped up their bonus-point in the second half.

Leinster remain top of the URC table despite the defeat.

At the end of a week in which they tied Dan Sheehan down to a new deal, announced the signing of All Black Jordie Barrett and sold out Croke Park for their Champions Cup semi-final against Northampton Saints, Leinster were beaten out of the gate in the altitude of Johannesburg.

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There were fewer than 40 seconds on the clock when the Lions took the lead.

Attacking off the kick-off, the hosts moved the ball well with blindside flanker JC Pretorius playing a key part before scrum-half Morne Van den Berg finished off the move.

Sanele Nohamba punished a Leinster scrum infringement with a successful penalty and the Lions quick start continued with Marius Louw and Quan Horn both crossing for tries before a quarter of an hour had elapsed.

Leinster senior coach Jacques Nienaber, back coaching in South Africa for the first time since winning a second World Cup with the Springboks, cannot have been pleased to see the Lions finding so much space out wide against his defensive system.

With Nohamba also converting two of the three scores, the Lions led 22-0.

That score would hold until half-time despite a sustained period of pressure from Leinster before the turn.

Diarmuid Mangan was held up over the line, before Liam Turner was adjudged to have lost the ball forward in the process of grounding.

A knock-on from Cormac Foley as Leinster pressed forward brought an end to the first half.

Leinster thought they had scored only three minutes after the restart, but the try was ruled out for a forward pass.

A Nohamba penalty from just inside the Leinster half, awarded only after a TMO consultation to ensure the ball had cleared the crossbar, nudged the hosts further ahead.

When Ciaran Frawley was the first to the ball after Harry Byrne's nudge through, Leinster were finally on the board with 27 minutes remaining but the Lions had their bonus-point try soon after through Emmanuel Tshituka.

The Lions flanker would join Frawley in scoring twice, capping off his Player of the Match showing with another try in the 76th minute after yet another neat interchange of passes from the South African side.

There was still time for Francke Horn to go over with the clock in the red to round out what was the Lions' third win against an Irish province in 11 attempts since joining the league three seasons ago.

Line-ups

Lions: Quan Horn; Kriel, Cronje, Louw (capt), Van der Merwe; Nohamba, Van den Berg; Naude, Botha, Dreyer; Alberts, Delport; Pretorius, Tshituka, Francke Horn

Replacements: Visagie, Smith, Ntlabakanye, Nothnagel, Sangweni, Steyn, Hendrikse, Van Wyk

Leinster: Frawley; Russell, Turner, Ngatai, Osborne; Byrne, McGrath; Healy, Barron, Clarkson; Molony, Jenkins; Mangan, Penny (capt), Deegan.

Replacements: McKee, Milne, Ala'alatoa, O'Tighearnaigh, Ruddock, Foley, Prendergast, Brownlee.

Match officials

Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi

TMO: Andrea Piardi

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