0'
Our referee for tonight is Craig Evans from Wales, and he will be assisted by Robbie Jenkinson and Oisin Quinn (both from Ireland). Our TMO is Greg Morgan from Wales.
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The Lions got back to winning ways with a 40-10 win over the Sharks.
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The Bulls mucked up their winning spree by pipping the Lions 30-28 at Loftus before adding injury to insult by beating the Lions 25-10 at Ellis Park!
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In their last five matches the Lions started by beating the Dragons 49-24, before pipping the Sharks 20-18 away from home.
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Connacht then beat Munster 22-9 and Cardiff 16-12, before rounding things off with a 26-10 win over the Scarlets.
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Connacht then beat Munster 22-9 and Cardiff 16-12, before rounding things off with a 26-10 win over the Scarlets.
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Connacht have been close to perfect in their last five matches. They were pipped 22-24 at home by Leinster, and lost out by one points in their next match, to Ulster (20-19).
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Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Richard Kriel, 13 Erich Cronje, 12 Marius Louw (captain), 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Jordan Hendrikse, 9 Sanele Nohamba, 8 Francke Horn, 7 Emmanuel Tshituka, 6 JC Pretorius, 5 Reinhard Nothnagel, 4 Etienne Oosthuizen, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 PJ Botha, 1 JP Smith.
Replacements: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 Morgan Naudé, 18 Conraad van Vuuren, 19 Darrien Landsberg, 20 Izan Esterhuizen, 21 Hanru Sirgel, 22 Morné van den Berg, 23 Stean Pienaar.
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Connacht: 15 Tiernan O’Halloran, 14 Byron Ralston, 13 David Hawkshaw, 12 Cathal Forde, 11 Andrew Smith, 10 JJ Hanrahan, 9 Caolin Blade (captain), 8 Sean O’Brien, 7 Conor Oliver, 6 Cian Prendergast, 5 Joe Joyce, 4 Niall Murray, 3 Jack Aungier, 2 Tadgh McElroy, 1 Denis Buckley.
Replacements: 16 Dave Heffernan, 17 Jordan Duggan, 18 Sam Illo, 19 Darragh Murray, 20 Shamus Hurley-Langton, 21 Colm Reilly, 22 Jack Carty, 23 Paul Boyle.
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11th-placed Lions are hosted tonight by Connacht, who are in seventh place on 33 points from seven wins. The Lions are on their heels, having earned 29 points from five wins so far this season.
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Good afternoon, and welcome to our live coverage of the United Rugby Championship match between the Lions and Connacht from The Sportsground, Galway.
1'
KICK-OFF! We're underway here in Galway with the first half of Connacht against the Lions.
3'
Connacht win the first lineout in the Lions half and run the line, but the visitors steal possession, run the ball right then left as they seek to gain ground upfield… eventually resorting to a big boot upfield.
4'
GREAT WORK from the Lions, driving into the Connacht half and close to their 5m… but they are blown for not rolling away on the ground. Superb early start from the visitors.
6'
Lions drive forward again, win a penalty near the 5m and kick into touch. From the lineout they ruck hard, then release the ball with short passes as the forward try to batter through… then they run the backline… it's all-action from inside 7m…
7'
TRY, LIONS, HORN! 0-5; Incessant pressure from the Lions continues, the ball is few to Horn 5m in from the Connacht tryline and he breaks through a gap to crash over under the poles.
8'
CONVERSION, LIONS, HENDRIKSE! 0-7; No problem from under the poles.
9'
BRILLIANT RUN FROM SMITH, running a third of the width of the field sideways looking for a gap in the Lions defence… he finds it 5m to the right of the poles and tries to burst around Horn… the Lions man tackles him but Smith crashes over the line…
10'
SO UNLUCKY! TMO confirms that Smith dropped the ball just before he dotted it down, the ball falling to ground half a foot short of the tryline. Desperately unlucky as that deserved to be a try.
12'
Lions with the scrum on the 5m but Connacht are blown for turning the scrum and the Lions kick to touch just out of their 22.
14'
Connacht steal possession and run the ball left to near the wing, then work it back across field and past the halfway line, Lions desperate defence… and the ref blows for a Connacht penalty just past halfway.
16'
Connacht win the lineout and run the ball and drive through to the Lions 5m line, camping near the poles and they push the Lions defence… Connacht trying to haul the ball over the line but the Lions denying them. Ref blows for a Connacht penalty… they're going to run from the 5m line…
17'
RED CARDS, LIONS, NTLABAKANYE. High degree of danger… and the man he tackled, Oliver, is off the field getting attention, so hopefully he will be alright as it was a very, very heavy tackle.
17'
OW! The try is given as good… and the first tackle from the 5m tap and go looks like a heavy and dangerous tackle…
17'
CRUNCHING TACKLE on the 5m, Connacht press to the left touchline and force their way over the line… but the ref wants TMO to check the tackle and the try.
18'
TRY, CONNACHT, PRENDERGAST! 5-7; Try eventually awarded for Connacht driving their pack over the line.
19'
CONVERSION, CONNACHT, HANRAHAN! 7-7; Lovely kick from out wide to level the score.
21'
Connacht with a scrum short of their 10m… and the Lions are blown from the scrum opening up. Connacht kick deep upfield, but the Lions win turnover ball and they run the line.
23'
Connacht blown for off-sides and the Lions kick to touch into the Connacht half.
25'
GREAT ATTACKING from the Lions, driving hard and then running left then right, breaking the Connacht line before pushing to the touchline, the Lions being tackled but the ball bouncing off "a green foot". Hey, don't blame me - that's what the ref said.
26'
TRY, LIONS, PRETORIUS! 7-12; Landsberg rises high and grabs the lineout ball beautifully, handing it to the pack as he floats back down to earth… the pack drive forward and over the line and it's Pretorius who claims the try. Super play from the 14-man Lions.
27'
The wind has picked up so strong that Hendrikse calls a team-mate to hold the ball for his conversion… he strikes it well, right at the centre of the poles… but the arc of his foot and the win drag it just wide to the left of the poles. Hard to do better than that from so close to the touchline.
29'
Lions push into Connacht territory, the home sides scrums but are blown for a foul… Lions scrum and break blindside and push to the Connacht 5m…
31'
Connacht clear deep downfield and Horn collects before bursting 40m upfield before being hauled to ground. A superb run.
33'
Lions keep driving down the left, push into the Connacht 22 and near the 10m… but Connacht get the scrum.
35'
Lions win the ball and run blind but are held up by the hosts.
37'
Connacht drive forward down the left, but the Lions hold them up and then win a priceless penalty just short of the half-time break.
39'
Lions run the ball but lose possession at the breakdown, Connacht driving forward but the Lions regain possession and kick to near the Lions 22 where they win their lineout and drive forward into the Connact 22…
40'
HALF-TIME, CONNACHT 7-12 LIONS. Brilliant 40 minutes of rugby, both sides giving it a full go and playing with attacking flair. The Lions are certainly looking strong to end Connacht's unbeaten record against visiting South African sides… but will the Lions be able to keep going with the extra workload of being a man down? We'll see shortly when the second half gets underway…
40'
TMO rules no foul… very tough call on the Lions, although one can see some relevance to the call. Again… tough to be a ref.
40'
Brilliant interplay and passing by the Lions, weaving into the 22 and passing back to Nohamba, who dives over for the try… but the ref wants the TMO to look for an obstruction tackle by the Lions…
41'
KICK-OFF! We're underway with the second half at a windy The Sportsground in Galway, with 14-man Lions leading (and dominating) hosts Connacht 7-12… but there's a lot to happen in the next 40 minutes…
42'
Connacht running at the Lions from inside their own half but they are brought down, there's cries from the crowd for a high tackle and the ref obliges… looked like he was taken around the shoulder, but the ref knows the rules better than us.
44'
BRILLIANT! Lions with great turnover ball hold Ulster back… but within 30 seconds the hosts turnover themselves and they attack into the Lions 22…
46'
BRILLIANT TURNOVER AGAIN! Lions again turn the ball over and kick upfield driving play back and winning a lineout as a green hand touched it on the way out…
48'
BAD THROW. Connacht get a choice of scrum of throw after the Lions put the ball in skew… tough gig in this wind, tho.
49'
TRY, LIONS, VAN DER MERWE! 7-17; Superb play from Van der Merwe, timing the intercept to perfection on the halfway line and then storming through untouched before executing a perfect swan dive to seal the try and push the lead to 10 points.
50'
CONVERSION, LIONS, HENDRIKSE! 7-19; A handful of feet to the left of the poles, not problem converting, although he needed a team-mate to hold a finger on the ball as he kicked cos this wind is nasty for goal-kickers.
52'
Connacht push back hard on the Lions, deep into the Lions half until they camp on the line… but the mass of bodies blocks his and the TMO's view of the action to he calls a 5m scrum, green ball.
54'
TRY, CONNACHT, HANRAHAN! 12-19; Connacht press and push in the scrum… the feed out to the right but the Lions hold them up on the line… then they feed it left and Hanrahan sees the gap and runs around dot down under the poles.
55'
CONVERSION, CONNACT, HANRAHAN! 14-19.
57'
Lions drive forward through to the Connacht 22, the home side managing to drag the Lions to ground but Hanrahan takes a heavy knock to the head and has to be substituted.
58'
The Lions drive forward again in the scrum into the Connacht 22, the ball is run out to the left but is ruled forward… Connacht will feed the new scrum.
60'
Good scrumming from Connacht and they drive play upfield towards their 10m line.
62'
Connacht drive up into the Lions half but are penalised and the Lions kick deep upfield into the Connacht 22.
63'
TRY, LIONS, CRONJE! 14-24; Great scrumming from the Lions, Cronje streams forward and Nohamba feeds him the ball and dashes through to score under the posts. Magnificent play.
64'
CONVERSION, LIONS, HENDRIKSE! 14-26; No problem from in front of poles.
66'
Lions running the ball, over the halfway line, denying Connacht the chance to fight back.
67'
Nohamba lofts a high ball into the air over the halfway line, but Connacht knock on and the Lions will have the scrums inside the Connacht half.
69'
Nohamba feeds Van der Merwe down the blind side, but Prendergast is there with a big tackle to break the attack down.
71'
TRY, LIONS, HORN! 14-31; The Lions feed the scrum inside the Connacht half… they run it right to the 22, then switch and run back left. The ball is fed back inside to Horn who drives forward and over the line for a try that should seal the win.
72'
The conversion from 8m inside the touchline skews wide… almost impossible to kick consistently in this wind.
74'
Connacht drive down the left wing, over the halfway line… the keep going down to the 5m line, but the Lions defence is holding up strongly… they turn the ball over and Hendrikse kicks from inside his goal area all the way into the Connacht 22…
76'
GREAT BREAK! Connacht break again down the ground, driving past the halfway line and into the Lions 22, but the 14 men in red are defending like demons.
78'
The Lions drive Connacht back into their own half but they storm back again, three times it looks like they might have found a gap, only for the Lions to close them down… brilliant attacking and superb defending. We really have been treated to a sensational match tonight.
79'
TRY, LIONS, VAN DEN BERG! 14-36; Lions run the ball left and just stream through the Connacht defence to runu through to score under the poles. Lovely teamwork.
79'
The Lions win a scrum inside their own half…
80'
CONVERSION, LIONS, HENDRIKSE! 14-38. Again in front of poles.
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