Glasgow Warriors punished the Lions for an error-prone performance in the Challenge Cup quarter-finals on Saturday night, ending South Africa’s first foray into the European tournaments.
The Lions were South Africa’s last hope of getting a team into the semi-finals of Europe’s top club competitions, after the DHL Stormers and Sharks were beaten in the Champions Cup quarter-finals earlier on Saturday.
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While the Johannesburg side was physically dominant for most of the contest in the Glasgow, they made far too many errors and were punished by the ruthless Warriors, who walked away with a 31-21 victory, after leading 14-0 at the break.
Despite going into half-time two tries down, the Lions threatened to make a comeback when Sanele Nohamba scored an early second half try. However, they ultimately left themselves too much to do on the scoreboard, as Glasgow added a further two tries in the second half to put the game out of reach for the visitors.
Lions roar first in the second half ?
A sneaky tap and go from Nohamba to pounce out of nowhere, @LionsRugbyCo are back in this match ?#ChallengeCupRugby pic.twitter.com/ReYq6rgFW5
— EPCR Challenge Cup (@ChallengeCup_) April 8, 2023
Of greater concern for the Lions will be the injury suffered by winger Rabz Maxwane, who was stretchered off in the first half and could now miss their charge for the Vodacom United Rugby Championship playoffs, starting on Saturday against Leinster at Ellis Park.
Photo: Ben Brady/INPHO/Shutterstock/BackpagePix