Unparalleled Kwagga leads the way as Lions forwards see them home 0
Kwagga Smith has unparalleled strength for a man of just 80kg who is 1.80 metres tall, and his tremendous exertions led a muscular display from the Lions pack as they sealed an exciting 29-28 win in the final quarter of their SuperRugby match against the Waratahs at Ellis Park on Saturday.
Smith made a couple of crucial turnovers in the second half, including the one that led to the Lions claiming the lead for the first time in the match, and he punched weigh above his weight in the collisions. Probably the moment that will be most remembered, however, came when replacement centre Adam Ashley-Cooper engulfed his upper body in a tackle but Smith lifted his 98kg opponent off his feet with seemingly just the power of his neck muscles! (see video here)
In this year of superhero-themed SuperRugby, it was an earth-shattering moment and the Waratahs must have been shaken. Shortly thereafter they conceded the penalty, kicked from in front of the poles by replacement flyhalf Shaun Reynolds, that snatched the victory for the Lions.
Having a player like Kwagga Smith performing heroics alongside you can only be inspirational and front-rankers Johannes Jonker, Dylan Smith and Malcolm Marx, and replacement flank Marnus Schoeman all stepped up in that final quarter and flexed their not inconsiderable muscle as well. Some massive scrums and sheer physicality in the collisions won the day.
The Waratahs will certainly be of the view that they gave away a much-needed victory, having led 28-26 with 12 minutes remaining. But to be fair, all three of the visitors’ tries in the first half were rather gifted to them by poor exits by the Lions, who kept putting in silly little chip-kicks from their own 22 and were duly punished.
The first try came as early as the fourth-minute, with Lions coach Swys de Bruin admitting afterwards he had been worried by the start his team made after a torrid tour and a bye week. The vision of fullback Kurtley Beale allowed him to launch a counter-attack into Lions’ territory, but the home side managed to steal the Waratahs’ lineout throw.
Only to give the ball straight back as wing Alex Newsome claimed the chip, Beale and centre Karmichael Hunt put in good runs, before flyhalf Bernard Foley found scrumhalf Nick Phipps dashing up to score the try.
The response of the Lions, seven minutes later, was a repeat of the astounding intercept try scored against the Waratahs by Bulls eighthman Duane Vermeulen last weekend. Hooker Marx intercepted Phipps’s pass off a lineout around halfway and did enough to force a penalty. The Lions kicked to touch, set the maul and then rumbled forward through a couple of pick-and-goes, before flyhalf Elton Jantjies found Aphiwe Dyantyi racing through on an inside-ball, the wing stretching over to score.
Marx may not quite have had the pace to complete the try, but his more obvious strengths came to the fore in the crucial final stages, when he was a dominating figure.
The charity of the Lions continued from the restart though, the ding-dong battle repeating as another silly chip-kick out of their 22 was snapped up by the Waratahs. The Lions defence was then all over the place as flank Michael Hooper weaved his way through for their second try.
The Lions’ response took five minutes this time as the prominent figure of lock Stephan Lewies went over from close range after the rolling maul had been well-defended, levelling the scores at 14-14 after the first quarter.
The to-and-fro pattern of scoring continued as another poor exit by Jantjies led to Rob Simmons, the Waratahs lock, bursting through the yawning gap in the defensive line and scoring.
But the Lions had the final say of the first half as the outstanding inside centre Harold Vorster shaped to pass but then went on a fabulous, arcing run, beating two pairs of tacklers and then putting the grubber through. That man Kwagga Smith showed his pace to get on the end of it and dot down, leaving the Lions two points adrift (19-21) at the break.
The Lions began the second half in spectacular fashion with a try that should make the global highlights of rugby played this weekend, Swys de Bruin later describing it as “one of outstanding beauty that lifted our spirits”.
It started with the Smith turnover in his own 22 and another great run by Vorster started the counter-attack. Eighthman Warren Whiteley then linked up with Lewies, who got the offload away to Marx (although there was a hint of it going forward), and the hooker freed wing Courtnall Skosan to go speeding over for the try and the lead for the first time.
The Waratahs regained the lead in the 57th minute, a flamboyant long pass from Hunt to Rona sending the wing flying down the line. He was stopped just short of the line, but replacement prop Tom Robertson cashed in on quickly recycled ball and crashed over for the try, Foley converting for a 28-26 lead.
To the Waratahs’ credit, they did not suddenly become all economical in their approach, and they kept probing as they rapidly moved the ball through the hands.
But this was a game ultimately won by muscle, with the Lions’ forwards gaining the momentum, this led to penalties that allowed the home side to dictate territory.
With this win, the Lions have climbed into the playoff places in eighth spot, but they are just three points off the conference-leading Sharks and fifth place overall.