The Emirates Lions won the Vodacom United Rugby Championship derby battle against the Hollywoodbets Sharks, defeating the visitors 38-14 at Emirates Airline Park on Saturday afternoon.
Despite their loss last week, the home side delivered a strong performance as they dominated most aspects of the game to earn the bonus point victory.
The Emirates Lions enjoyed a productive start to the game, using turnover stolen to impose territorial advantage, and earning good gains in that department, before a close-quarter attack saw them score the first try of the game in the seventh minute, with the conversion giving them a 7-nil lead.
With barely a sniff of possession, the Hollywoodbets Sharks had a second blow struck against them when the hosts scored another pick-and-drive based effort after the conclusion of the first quarter, as rain pelted down and made tight, but accurate play vital.
With the pressure from the home side starting to build, the Hollywoodbets Sharks lost Ntuthuko Mchunu to the sin bin for collapsing a maul close to the tryline as they struggled to defend against the marauding Emirates Lions who were playing with unbelievable confidence.
They lost the ball close to the tryline – twice – in their quest to put distance between themselves and the visitors, but came good in open play, exploiting space to score their third try just as half-time beckoned, leading 19-0 as the teams headed into the changerooms.
The bonus point try came in the opening five minutes of the second half, scoring in the corner to take a 24-0 lead, and for the ensuing quarter hour, both sides had their chances but the slippery ball won the battle of continuity, before discipline continued to plague the Hollywoodbets Sharks, losing a second player to a yellow card and the Emirates Lions struck back immediately, another set of forward mauls dominating the collisions before scoring again with the final quarter left to play and a 31-nil lead for the Durbanites to contemplate.
A sixth try came up with 10 minutes to go, the game in disarray and the home side exploiting space, some creative play closing out the movement to take a 38-0 lead.
After the Emirates Lions lost a man to the sin bin for repeated cynical play, the Hollywoodbets Sharks finally earned some redemption, fitting that one of the hardest working players, Ethan Hooker, was on hand out wide to score from Siya Kolisi’s pass and Jordan Hendrikse closed out the move with the conversion with a minute left to play.
The Hollywoodbets Sharks had the final say, Grant Williams bursting through from a quick tap penalty and making 40m before feeding Kolisi who was following in support and the Bok captain had the momentum to take the offload and go over for the try, converted by Hendrikse to close out the game.