Lions overpower Jaguares to reach semi-final
Elton Jantjies kicked 23 points for Lions
©PA
Lions 40-23 Jaguares, Emirates Airlines Park
Scorecard
Lions have progressed to the semi-finals for the third consecutive season as they outplayed Jaguares 40-23 in the quarter-final at Emirates Airlines Park on Saturday.
The South African side will now face Waratahs in the semi-final at Emirates Airlines Park on 28th July.
Jaguares applied early pressure and as a result, they raced off to a six-point lead with a third and sixth-minute penalty goal from Nicolas Sanchez.
Lions responded back in the eighth minute when a crossfield kick from Elton Jantjies was gathered by winger Ruan Combrinck, who crossed over with the fly-half improving it. With Bautista Delguy failing to gather a grubber from Aphiwe Dyantyi, Harold Vorster was quick to hold on and scored the home side's second try and with a conversion from Jantjies, Lions stretched their lead to 14-6.
The third try for Lions came in the 27th minute through Malcolm Marx and it was sandwiched between a penalty kick and a conversion from Jantjies as the scoreline became 24-6 before Sanchez kicked a three-pointer before half time to cut down the gap to 15 points.
Jaguares showed a better response in the second half with back to back tries from Delguy (42') and Pablo Matera (48') as the difference came down to 27-23 by the 50th minute.
However, Jaguares failed to build on the momentum and eventually the fourth try for the home side came when replacement Marnus Schoeman offload was carried forward by Andries Coetzee and Jantjies kicked a conversion followed by a drop goal and a penalty kick as Lions sealed a 40-23 victory.
