The winger, Edwill van der Merwe, scored a brace of tries for the Lions, while Morné van der Berg and Vincent Tshituka, also dotted down as they collected a valuable bonus point.

Aled Summerhill and James Botham crossed whitewash for Cardiff.

Lions captain, Jaco Kriel, shared his message to his players before they jogged out onto the park to face Cardiff.

“Before the game I asked the players to just remember the day they fell in love with the game of rugby, then go out with that and play for that moment, said the influential flanker.

“I really believe that everybody showed that type of character, that type of hard work.

“It is really appreciated by a captain to get that kind of response from the team.”

In the weekends other games, the Sharks beat the Scarlets 37-20, the Bulls beat Munster 29-24, and the Stormers earned a 55-7 victory over Zebre.

Morgan Piek/OFM Sport