Two late tries by midfielder Leonardo Marin powered Benetton to come from behind and break the Lions hearts with a 26-18 victory at Ellis Park on Saturday.
Benetton won the Vodacom United Rugby Championship game between the two sides earlier this year quite easily but had a lot more trouble getting the W in Johannesburg and the Lions will feel unfortunate for not getting over the line.
The Lions lost winger Kelly Mpeku to a yellow card for a deliberate knockdown while 18-11 up and while Benetton’s two tries cannot be directly attributed to the yellow, it certainly swung the momentum of the game.
Mpeku, who was superb otherwise, scored a try and was a candidate for man of the match before the yellow but the way the Italian side came back in those 20 minutes must be applauded.
The Lions will kick themselves for not capitalising on their early dominance and not planting the knockout blow when they were 10 points up.
Flanker Manuel Zuliani was exceptionally good on the ground and disrupted the Lions momentum exceptionally well during the game, earning himself a well-deserved man of the match award.
Marin’s first was a simple powerful run where he popped the ball up for So’otala Fa’aso’o who powered through a tackle and then popped the ball up for Marin to go straight through and score untouched.
A few minutes later Marin popped up near the wing to go over after the ball went through a number of hands in a superb try to put his side ahead with a few minutes left.
Tomas Albanoz, the Pumas flyhalf, sealed the game with a long-range drop goal which left the disappointed home side simply watching the ball travel through the posts to end the Lions’ hopes of stealing the win at the end.
It was really disappointing considering the Lions had started poorly but had control of the game by halftime and should have been the stronger side in the second half.
After Rhyno Smith scored in the fifth minute, the Lions hit back with a Chris Smith penalty and a try by Kelly Mpeku, who picked up on a brilliant grubber from Quan Horn to put his side ahead.
They added a second early in the second half through Ruan Venter, who powered over from close range and then Smith’s boot put them 18-8 up just before the hour mark.
But then the yellow card happened and the Lions fell apart, with the result being just another question mark against the current coaching side and their poor record in charge of the side.
SCORERS
Lions - tries: Kelly Mpeku, Ruan Venter. Conversion: Chris Smith. Penalties: Smith (2).
Benetton - tries: Rhyno Smith, Leonardo Marin (2). Conversion: Tomas Albonoz. Penalties: Albanoz, Jacob Umaga. Drop goal: Albonoz.