Another day another Emirates Lions win.
On Sunday the men from Joburg made it three from three in the United Rugby Championship with an away win in Wales against a determined and flawed Dragons side.
The visitors were the better side from the off and were only under pressure when they were reduced to 14 men in the second quarter after Franco Marais was sent to the naughty chair for a 'cynical' kick of the ball as Dragons scrumhalf Rhodri Williams was about to set his backline free.
The hooker shouldn't have bothered as the Dragons attack was pretty toothless all day with No 8 Taine Basham their only sort of threat.
The Lions opened the scoring through Quan Horn after a massive scrum put them on the front foot and after some slick passing and clever decision making the fullback had an easy run in for the five-pointer.
Flyhalf Nico Steyn converted and the men in red were up and running.
But soon they were running in the other direction when home side flank Harri Keddie intercepted and, despite his legs seeming to get stuck in the ground as he ran out of puff, he dotted down under the posts before the Lions cover could get to him, Lloyd Evan converted and the scores were, unbelievable, level.
Then came Marais' moment of madness and the home side suddenly found some momentum though the powerful Basham as he crashed over the line from a line-out maul.
Dragons, although they were a man up, were still trying to slow the game down while the Lions wanted it to be fast and loose and the game went back and forward until Basham gave away a penalty as Marais came back and the Lions closed the gap to one point through Steyn's boot.
His left foot came to the fore again with the clock in the red as he put the Lions in front at the break (13-12).
The home side started the second half like they'd had the full hairdryer treatment in the changeroom and Basham completed his brace to give them the lead again, Evans converted from right in front to make it 19-13 to the men in blue.
But that was the end of their scoring as their attacks because slower and more predictable (it was simply tackling practice for the Lions defenders).
Sanele Nohamba joined the fray in the 46th minute at No 10 and immediately took control, pushing his team forward with well-placed kicks and spreading the home defence wide with his long passes.
He then showed his accuracy when kicking for poles when he narrowed the gap with a penalty.
Now only three points behind and the game becoming fractured and loose the Lions were in their element and after a period of end-to-end play it was Player of the Match Jarod Cairns who shrugged off three tacklers to run in for the final try of the day, which Nohamba converted to make it 23-19 with 20 minutes to go.
The Lions were then happy to let the Dragons have the ball knowing that they were no threat on attack and would simply give the ball back to them when they run out of ideas.
With their scrum firing on all cylinders and the line-out working much better with PJ Botha at hooker, the last quarter of the match was like a practice game for the visitors.
In the end they sealed the win when Cairns nabbed his third turnover of the game and Nohamba thumped the ball into touch.
The only worry for the Lions heading into the second week of their tour (they face Zebre on Saturday) is that Asenathi Ntlabakanye had to leave the field in his 50th game after a clash of heads with Cairns (he must have a tough noggin).
Hopefully it was a precaution and nothing serious as they will need the big man at his best in Europe.
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