Lions hit straps in crushing win
MOSTERT: ANY TEAM DREAMS TO START A TOUR LIKE THIS
Battered Waratahs unable to get on the scoresheet in Sydney.
Ecstatic Lions captain Franco Mostert credited his side’s commanding forward display as a key to their cracking 29-0 whitewash of the Waratahs in their opening Super Rugby tour match in Sydney yesterday.
The Lions, who only arrived in Sydney on Wednesday night, emphatically outscored the badly outplayed Tahs by four tries to zero as they built on their halftime lead of just 7-0 after an error-ridden first-half display from both teams.
“I must say the boys wanted it more than anybody else, we worked hard through the week and it paid off,” Mostert said.
“I have to give credit to my forwards, they worked immensely hard and I take off my hat to them, Any team dreams to start their tour like this.”
The Waratahs entered the game on a four-match winning streak but they were confronted by a Lions team who were ruthless on attack and defence and scored their first ever win in Sydney.
It was also the Lions’ sixth straight win on Aussie soil and the 10th in their last 11 matches against Aussie opposition.
The Lions took their narrow lead into half-time after the first score was only recorded in the 22nd minute after a chip from that magnificent hooker Malcolm Marx, which was collected by wing Ruan Combrinck and taken further by workhorse flank Kwagga Smith.
Possession was quickly recycled to flying wing Madosh Tambwe who cruised over the line for his sixth try in his last three matches.
He was cruelly denied another score three minutes later when he was taken out late by Waratahs wing Alex Newsome who clearly changed his line but surprisingly referee Mike Fraser decided no further action was necessary.
Three more second-half tries by Smith, centre Harold Vorster and replacement flanker Marnus Schoeman underlined the Lions’ dominance in one of their most commanding performances on foreign soil.