| Lions (24) 37 |
| Tries: Van den Berg, Van der Merwe 2, Tshituka Cons: Hendrikse 4 Pens: Hendrikse 3 |
| Cardiff (13) 20 |
| Tries:Summerhill, Botham Cons: Evans (2) Pens: Evans (2) |
Cardiff was still without a win at the United Rugby Championship, while South African team Lions won a hard-fought bonus point win in Johannesburg.
A try by Morne Van den Berg and Edwill Vander Merwe led to a 24-13 lead at halftime. Aled Sommerhill scored for Cardiff.
James Botham came over to close the scores, before Jordan Hendrikse penalties extended their lead.
Vincent Tshituka claimed his bonus try at the end.
Lions won Ellis Park for the first time since June with 17 points from home fly-half Hendrikse.
Jarrod Evans, the outside-half, has recovered from a head knock and made his 100th Cardiff appearance. Dai Young, their boss, made five changes. 48-12 defeat by UlsterBelfast.
Full-back Matthew Morgan, Ben Thomas and forwards Corey Domachowski and Shane Lewis-Hughes joined the ranks.
After being released from Six Nations duty, Ellis Jenkins, a Wales flanker, was brought off the bench at Johannesburg.
Willis Halaholo fought against Ulster, but Ben Thomas returned from Wales to team up with Rey Lee-Lo. This was his 100th appearance in this competition.
Lions, commanded by Jaco Kriel (Springbok flanker), welcomed back Reinhard Nothnagel and Vincent Tshituka (brothers), who missed last month’s tournament. 21-13 defeat at Leinster.
Van den Berg’s swift response to Burger Odendaal’s powerful drive allowed him to gather and touch down. Hendrikse then converted the first time.
Van der Merwe’s power and pace were evident twice, with Vincent Tshituka’s impressive offload on the open-side providing the second of his two tries.
Cardiff produced a masterful effort. Summerhill concluded a fine move with style, after Boyde was denied by the video ref.
Hendrikse’s accuracy in kicking also paid dividends for Lions, as he added penalty to his three first half conversions.
Cardiff responded quickly to the break. Botham was able to find himself in space far enough to score and Evans converted again.
Hendrikse added 2 more penalties to give hosts a 10-point cushion going in to the final quarter.
Cardiff was reduced to 14 men by substitute Kristian Dacey, who was sin-binned after accidentally driving his shoulder into a head at an ruck. His victim had moved into the Cardiff hooker’s zone.
The visitors tried to get at least one losing bonus point, but it was futile as the Lions held them out in their final minutes.
Cardiff had to be concerned about the head injury that Lee-Lo sustained in the first quarter.
This fixture was initially scheduled for November. was postponed following the emergence of the Omicron Covid-19 variantIt left Cardiff, temporarily stranded there, and had to be isolated in England to get back to Wales.
This was the second defeat for South Africa by Wales this weekend Scarlets having lost against Sharks on Friday.
The Welsh capital team will face Stormers in Cape Town on Sunday 20 March, while Scarlets take on Bulls two days earlier.
Lions: Quan Horn; Stean Pienaar, Wandisile Simelane, Burger Odendaal, Edwill van der Merwe; Jordan Hendrikse, Morne van den Berg; Sti Sithole, Jaco Visagie, Carlu Sadie, Ruben Schoeman, Reinhard Nothnagel, Jaco Kriel (capt), Vincent Tshituka, Francke Horn.
Replacements: PJ Botha, JP Smith, Ruan Dreyer, Ruan Venter, Emmanuel Tshituka, Nico Steyn, Manuel Rass, Tiaan Swanepoel.
Cardiff RugbyMatthew Morgan, Owen Lane; Rey Lee-Lo; Ben Thomas, Aled Sommerhill; Jarrod Evans and Lloyd Williams; Corey Domachowski. Kirby Myhill. Dmitri Ahip. Josh Turnbull (capt), Matthew Screech. Shane Lewis-Hughes. Will Boyde. James Botham
Replacements:Kristian Dacey. Brad Thyer. Will Davies-King. Rory Thornton. Ellis Jenkins. Jamie Hill. Max Llewellyn. Hallam Amos.
Referee:Chris Busby, IRFU
Assistants: Cwengile Jadezweni & Griffin Colby (SARU)
TMO:Ben Whitehouse (WRU).