Lions put hapless Kings to the sword

Cape Town - A burst of four converted tries in the first 16 minutes of the match set the Golden Lions up for a comprehensive 51-14 win over the EP Kings in their Currie Cup Premier Division match at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth on Saturday.

READ: Blue Bulls hammer Cheetahs

The Lions scored in the opening minute with a breakout from inside their half for Springbok Sevens star Kwagga Smith to cross over under the posts. They repeated that exercise in quick succession three further times as a shell-shocked Kings team found themselves trailing 28-0 in the 16th minute.

The home side hit back with a try under the posts by right wing Sylvian Mahuza, but it was always going to be difficult to haul in a 7-31 half-time deficit.

The Lions scored two tries in the second half, with man-of-the-match Smith picking up a hat-trick, while the Kings replied with a try by replacement prop Simon Kerrod.

In next weekend's action, the Kings travel to Durban to face the Sharks, while the Lions host the Pumas in Johannesburg.

Scorers:

EP Kings:

Tries: Sylvain Mahuza, Simon Kerrod

Conversions: Scott van Breda (2)

Golden Lions:

Tries: Kwagga Smith (3), Courtnall Skosan, Howard Mnisi, Anthony Volmink

Conversions: Marnitz Boshoff (6)

Penalties: Boshoff (3)

Teams:

EP Kings:

15 Scott van Breda, 14 Sylvian Mahuza, 13 JP du Plessis, 12 Tim Whitehead, 11 Luther Obi, 10 George Whitehead, 9 Enrico Acker, 8 Tim Agaba, 7 Stefan Willemse, 6 Luke Watson (captain), 5 Cornell Hess, 4 Steven Sykes, 3 Tom Botha, 2 Martin Ferreira, 1 Schalk Ferreira

Substitutes: 16 Michael van Vuuren, 17 Simon Kerrod, 18 Jacques Engelbrecht, 19 Paul Schoeman, 20 Kevin Luiters, 21 Karlo Aspeling, 22 Siyanda Grey

Golden Lions:

15. Ruan Combrinck, 14. Courtnall Skosan, 13. Harold Vorster, 12. Howard Mnisi, 11. Anthony Volmink, 10. Marnitz Boshoff, 9.  Ross Cronje, 8. Ruaan Lerm, 7. Kwagga Smith, 6. Jaco Kriel (captain), 5. Martin Muller, 4. Franco Mostert, 3. Julian Redelinghuys, 2. Malcolm Marx, 1. Jacques van Rooyen

Substitutes: 16. Robbie Coetzee, 17. Ruan Dreyer, 18. MB Lusaseni, 19. Steph de Wit, 20. Lohan Jacobs, 21. Stokkies Hanekom, 22. Jaco van der Walt

*Weekend Currie Cup results:

Friday:

Griquas 19-43 Western Province

Pumas 33-24 Sharks

Saturday:

Free State Cheetahs 19-57 Blue Bulls

EP Kings 14-51 Golden Lions