Lions let it slip as Benetton storm back to win at Ellis Park

The Italian side struck first in Johannesburg when fullback Rhyno Smith crossed out wide in the sixth minute after Jacob Umaga shifted the ball quickly through the hands. Umaga, however, pushed the conversion wide, allowing the Lions to respond through the boot of Chris Smith, who slotted an early penalty to make it 5-3.

Benetton edged further ahead when Umaga landed a long-range penalty on 13 minutes, but the Lions finished the half with strong momentum. After sustained pressure, clever kicking from Quan Horn created space out wide for Kelly Mpeku, who gathered and scored in the corner. Smith's conversion handed the hosts a narrow 10-8 lead at the break.

The Lions extended their advantage early in the second half when lock Ruan Venter powered over from close range following a period of pressure deep inside Benetton territory. Although the conversion was missed, Smith later added another penalty to stretch the lead to 18-8 by the 57th minute.

The turning point came when Mpeku was shown a yellow card for a deliberate knock-on on 68 minutes, leaving the Lions a man short. Benetton immediately capitalised as substitute So'otala Fa'aso'o offloaded brilliantly to Leonardo Marin, who sliced through the defensive line for the visitors' second try. Tomas Albornoz converted to make it 18-18.

With momentum firmly on their side, Benetton struck again three minutes later as Marin grabbed his second try of the afternoon after another slick backline move, giving the visitors a 23-18 lead despite a missed conversion.

As the Lions looked to force a late response, Benetton shut down their attacking threats before Albornoz delivered the final blow with a superb drop goal in the dying moments to seal the 26-18 win.

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