Lions 27 - 26 Leinster

Full time

26 Sep 2026

United Rugby Championship

Stage: Regular Season Round 1

Ellis Park

Lions vs Leinster head to head

🎉 2

👏 3

🔥 1

😭 1

The Lions triumphed over Leinster Rugby with a narrow 27-26 victory at Ellis Park. The match featured a flurry of tries, with Fintan Gunne scoring twice for Leinster and Erich Cronje crossing for the Lions on two occasions. Chris Smith's kicking was pivotal, as he converted all three of his tries and added two penalties. Leinster led at halftime, 19-17, thanks to a late try from Gunne. The Lions surged ahead in the second half with a crucial try from Kelly Mpeku. Leinster fought back late with a try from Stephen Smyth, but it wasn't enough. The win marked a significant turnaround for the Lions after previous losses to Leinster earlier in the season.

Broadcasters

IE
GB
IE TG4

Where to watch in: Ireland, United Kingdom

Weather

Temperature: 24.4°C (Feels like 23.5°C) Condition: MostlyClear Wind: 15.1 km/h, gusting to 33.9 km/h Humidity: 32% Cloud Cover: 35%

Highlights

Events

Kickoff
1'

Substitution

Ethan Adams on for Henco van Wyk · Lions
5'

Try

Fintan Gunne · Leinster

0 - 5
8'

Try

Erich Cronje · Lions

5 - 5
8'

Conversion

Chris Smith · Lions

7 - 5
12'

Penalty

Chris Smith · Lions

10 - 5
13'

Try

Fintan Gunne · Leinster

10 - 10
14'

Conversion

Caspar Gabriel · Leinster

10 - 12
15'

Substitution

Henco van Wyk on for Ethan Adams · Lions
23'

Try

Erich Cronje · Lions

15 - 12
24'

Conversion

Chris Smith · Lions

17 - 12
38'

Try

Fintan Gunne · Leinster

17 - 17
39'

Conversion

Caspar Gabriel · Leinster

17 - 19
Halftime 17 - 19
Second Half
45'

Substitution

RF Schoeman on for Sebastian Lombard · Lions
45'

Substitution

Morne Brandon on for PJ Botha · Lions
45'

Substitution

SJ Kotze on for Boan Venter · Lions
45'

Substitution

Sibabalo Qoma on for Etienne Oosthuizen · Lions
49'

Substitution

Brian Deeny on for Josh Ericson · Leinster
49'

Substitution

Harry Byrne on for Caspar Gabriel · Leinster
51'

Substitution

Peter Dooley on for Alex Usanov · Leinster
52'

Substitution

JC Pretorius on for Sibabalwe Mahashe · Lions
52'

Substitution

Josh Ericson on for Max Deegan · Leinster
58'

Substitution

Stephen Smyth on for Gus McCarthy · Leinster
60'

Penalty

Chris Smith · Lions

20 - 19
60'

Substitution

Dylan McNeice on for Josh Ericson · Leinster
65'

Substitution

Niall Smyth on for Andrew Porter · Leinster
67'

Substitution

Hyron Andrews on for Ruan Delport · Lions
71'

Yellow Card

Dylan McNeice · Leinster
71'

Substitution

Ciaran Mangan on for Todd Lawlor · Leinster
71'

Substitution

Ethan Adams on for Richard Kriel · Lions
74'

Substitution

Oliver Coffey on for Hugh Cooney · Leinster
78'

Try

Kelly Mpeku · Lions

25 - 19
79'

Conversion

Chris Smith · Lions

27 - 19
81'

Yellow Card Complete

Dylan McNeice · Leinster
84'

Yellow Card

SJ Kotze · Lions
84'

Try

Stephen Smyth · Leinster

27 - 24
84'

Conversion

Harry Byrne · Leinster

27 - 26
Fulltime 27 - 26

Player ratings

Lions

15 Boeta Chamberlain 7.1
14 Kelly Mpeku 8.4
13 Henco van Wyk 6.9
12 Richard Kriel 6.4
11 Erich Cronje 9.6
10 Chris Smith 6.6
9 Nico Steyn 7.2
1 Boan Venter 6.5
2 PJ Botha 6.9
3 Sebastian Lombard 6.5
4 Etienne Oosthuizen 6.9
5 Ruan Delport 7.0
6 Sibabalwe Mahashe 6.1
7 Bathobele Hlekani 7.2
8 Francke Horn 6.7
16 Morne Brandon 6.3
17 SJ Kotze 5.7
18 RF Schoeman 5.8
19 Hyron Andrews 6.2
20 Sibabalo Qoma 7.0
21 JC Pretorius 6.7
22 Zian Cilliers –
23 Ethan Adams 6.6

Leinster

15 Todd Lawlor 7.2
14 Tommy O'Brien 6.2
13 Hugh Cooney 6.2
12 Charlie Tector 6.4
11 Andrew Osborne 6.2
10 Caspar Gabriel 7.4
9 Fintan Gunne 8.6
1 Alex Usanov 6.4
2 Gus McCarthy 7.2
3 Andrew Porter 6.5
4 Ryan Baird 6.0
5 Conor O'Tighearnaigh 6.5
6 Max Deegan 6.1
7 Scott Penny 6.8
8 Josh Ericson 7.9
16 Stephen Smyth 7.0
17 Peter Dooley 5.9
18 Niall Smyth 6.2
19 Brian Deeny 5.8
20 Dylan McNeice 4.6
21 Oliver Coffey –
22 Harry Byrne 6.1
23 Ciaran Mangan –