Brave, enterprising 14-man Lions down Racing 92 to keep Challenge Cup dream alive

The Lions played with 14 men for 62 minutes against Racing 92 in Johannesburg on Saturday and produced some excellent rugby to run out 51-28 winners and keep their Challenge Cup dream alive.  

FT | Lions v Racing 92 - Challenge Cup

It all looked promising from the start when after a period in which both sides eased into the match, the Lions opened the scoring as skipper Marius Louw read a long Racing 92 pass to gather up an intercept and race away to score under the poles.

Scrumhalf Sanele Nohamba added the extras, and the home side were off to the perfect start with a 7-0 lead in the 6th minute.

That lead doubled to 12-0 just two minutes later as speedster Edwill van der Merwe was sent on his way down the left after a brilliant turnover while Racing 92 were on the attack. 

Racing 92's attacking endeavour soon paid off as prop Thomas Moukoro barged over in the left-hand corner from a ruck near the Lions line in the 12th minute.

Nolann Le Garrec converted from the touchline to cut the Lions' lead to 12-7. 

The Lions extended their lead to 15-7 in the 17th minute thanks to a Nohamba penalty but were stunned a minute after when Emmanuel Tshituka received a straight red card for leading with his arm into the tackle. 

According to the letter of the law, it was the right decision, but there was no malicious intent from the big flanker. 

Despite the setback, the Lions extended their lead a few minutes later after a brilliant break by flyhalf Gianni Lombard allowed him to find flyer Sibahle Maxwane in space, and he left the Racing defence with no chance as he cruised over the try line.

While Nohamba couldn't convert with a difficult kick from the touchline, the Lion had extended now led 20-7 in the 25th minute. 

Racing hit back soon