Lions reign in Parma

Rather than the running free on the plains of the Serengeti, Zebra Parma and the Emirates Lions dug deep to put on a show in their United Rugby Championship clash in Italy on Saturday afternoon in conditions when gills would have been an advantage.

In the end it was the visitors who came out on top 10-9 as they kept their unbeaten start to the season going.

The rain and mud meant that what was supposed to be a clash of two sides that love to play running rugby turned into an arm-wrestle with ball security and grunt the keys to victory.

The home side started the better, unsurprisingly mastering the conditions quicker than the men from hot and dry Joburg.

The Lions were sloppy when in possession and that cost them two early penalties as they found themselves six points down after 22 minutes after flyhalf Giovanni Montemauri has slotted both shots at goal.

The Lions then found their feet in the mud and the forwards started to dominate, causing Zebre to give away penalties, with their scrum in fine form.

From a line-out close to the line the Lions forwards rumbled and stumbled towards the line but couldn't breakthrough the tough defence of the men in yellow, so the ball went wide to Edwill van der Merwe who, with seemingly no space, skinned his man and dotted down in the corner.

Sanele Nohamba converted from the left touchline to put the men in red ahead for the first time and that is where they would stay.

The visitors finished the half the stronger of the two sides as Zebre's discipline went from bad to worse but Nohamba couldn't nail a penalty with the clock in the red that would have given them some breathing room as they went into the break 7-6 to the good.

He had no such issues early in the second half as a penalty won at scrum-time was slotted over to make it 10-6 after 42 minutes.

Zebre bounced back straight away and after a sustained period of pressure Montemauri slotted a penalty to make it a one-point game once again, the last points of the game.

The game then became a battle of wills as kicking the ball deep into the opposition's half was the order of the day and it was a question of who would make a mistake as launching attacks while trying to handle a bar of soap was a recipe for disaster.

It was not 80 minutes of thrills and skills but it was enthralling as both sides dug deep to try and gain the slightest advantage but, in the end, neither side gave up an inch and Player of the Match Francke Horn's men came away muddied, bloodied and with a massive four points in the bag as they head to Ireland to Leinster next weekend.

The Lions have proved once again that they can win games in any conditions, with any tactics, a great sign for the rest of the tournament and a sign of the maturity they have developed.