Lions 51 (20) / (3) 13 Russia (Final Score)

The Lions and Russian Bears did battle in the first game of the MTN Lions Challenge at Ellis Park, Johannesburg at 19:00 SA Time.

This was the live match discussion Article.

The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, SHD4 & CSN on TV in SA.

The Lions proved to be too strong for a game Russia side who never stopped trying. The Lions ran in 5 tries, and were awarded a further 2 penalty tries on a cold and damp Highveld evening.. The Lions still have a way to go before any possible promotion / relegation games for Super Rugby 2014, but after a display like this to build on, coach Johan Ackermann will feel they have started on the right path.

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Scorers:

Lions:

• Penalties – Lionel Cronje (2)
• Drop Goals – 0
• Tries – Deon Helberg (1), Penalty Tries (2), Hendrik Roodt (1), Warwick Tecklenburg (1), Marnitz Boshoff (1), Ruhan Nel (1)
• Conversions – Lionel Cronje (4), Marnitz Boshoff (1)

Russia:

• Penalties – Sergey Yanyushkin (2)
  
• Drop Goals – 0
• Tries – Alexey Makovetskiy (1)
• Conversions – Sergey Yanyushkin (1)
  

Teams:

Lions: 15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Deon Helberg, 13 Stokkies Hanekom, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Anthony Volmink, 10 Lionel Cronje, 9 Michael Bondesio, 8 Willie Britz, 7 Derick Minnie, 6 Warwick Tecklenburg, 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Hendrik Roodt, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 Martin Bezuidenhout, 1 JC Janse van Rensburg (Captain).
Replacements: 16 Francois du Toit, 17 Jacques van Rooyen, 18 Jacques Kotze, 19 Hugo Kloppers, 20 Claude Tshibidi, 21 Ross Cronje, 22 Marnitz Boshoff, 23 Ruhan Nel.

Russian Bears: 15 Igor Klyuchnikov, 14 Andrey Otrokov, 13 Yaroslav Rechnev, 12 Alexey Makovetskiy, 11 Mikhail Babaev, 10 Sergey Yanyushkin, 9 Alexander Yanyushkin, 8 Victor Gresev, 7 Pavel Butenko, 6 Andrey Temnov, 5 Andrey Garbuzov, 4 Alexander Voytov, 3 Innokentiy Zykov, 2 Valeriy Tsnobiladze, 1 Grigory Tsnobiladze
Replacements: 16 Alexey Volkov, 17 Sergey Novoselov, 18 Evgeny Pronenko, 19 Maxim Kiselev, 20 Artem Fatakhov, 21 Alexey Shcherban, 22 Sergey Sugrobov

Date: Saturday 19 January
Venue: Ellis Park, Johannesburg
Kick-off: 19:00 SA Time (17:00 GMT)
Referee: Lourens van der Merwe
Assistant referees: Local
TMO: Johan Greeff