Lions hooker PJ Botha

The Lions came back in the second half to beat Cardiff Rugby in their United Rugby Championship (URC) encounter at Cardiff Arms Park on Friday evening.

Ivan van Rooyen’s side won 18-31 after trailing 13-10 at half-time.

RECAP | United Rugby Championship – Cardiff Rugby v Lions

The Lions followed up last week’s 28-27 victory over the Ospreys with a dominant second-half performance to move fourth on the URC log.

The rain and strong winds also contributed to this being a stop-start affair as James Botham got over the try line for Cardiff, with Jarrod Evans converting and scoring two penalties.

The home side had a three-point lead after dominating for most of the first stanza.

However, the Lions came roaring back as Morne Van Den Berg dived over to score, with Gianni Lombard converting. 

Shane Lewis-Hughes scored in the corner to give the hosts a fighting chance, but Quan Horn sneaked in a 79th-minute try that gave the Lions a bonus point, with Lombard converting to seal back-to-back wins for the Johannesburg franchise.

Next weekend’s URC action sees the Lions will travel to Edinburgh Rugby (Friday, 7 October – 20:35 SA time) while Cardiff will face the Scarlets (Saturday, 8 October – 18:15 SA time).

Scorers:

Cardiff Rugby 18 (13)

Tries: James Botham, Shane Lewis-Hughes

Conversion: Jarrod Evans

Penalties: Evans (2)

Lions 31 (10)

Tries: Penalty try, PJ Botha, Morne Van Den Berg, Quan Horn

Conversions: Gianni Lombard (3)

Penalty: Lombard

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