LIONS fought their way to a fourth league win from five starts with their most impressive performance this season.
Despite having two forwards sinbinned, Lions showed a cutting edge in the first half and then defended superbly with the wind and rain in their faces.
Chris Richards kicked Lions ahead in the first minute with a penalty, and the forwards then drove on before the ball was moved wide at pace for Pete Roberts to score on the right - Richards converting, his last success of the game, to give the home side a 10-0 lead on three minutes as they sought to establish the necessary first-half cushion.
Lions&apos; tendency to concede penalties returned and three in a minute gave Manchester the field position for scrum-half Paul Thompson to score a fine blind side try on eight minutes.
But Rugby looked committed and inventive, and they even won Manchester line-outs against a very tall pack which was all in contrast to their performance against Exeter last time out.
Flanker Tristan Prosser-Shaw was harshly yellow-carded, but Lions still dominated up front and forward pressure produced a Sam Tovo try on 20 minutes.
A fine Richards break was carried on by Phil Reed and as Lions kept the pressure on Reed took an awkward pass superbly to crash over for a 25-5 interval lead.
As conditions deteriorated there was no let up in Rugby&apos;s aggressive display and they coped comfortably with the sin-binning of Tim Collier for deliberate offside.
Manchester could not score until the final quarter, when Marcus Barrow kicked a penalty as Lions&apos; much-vaunted fitness paid big dividends.
Finally, former Lion Dave Muckalt did register a consolation try with five minutes remaining on the clock.
Lions coach Adrian Thompson commented: "I was really pleased with everyone&apos;s effort. We scored good tries out wide and the commitment was self-evident. This was a significant step forward."
Rugby Lions: Richards; Roberts, Potter, Newmarch, Reed; Davies, Walsh (Edwards); Greenbury (Shadbolt), Gladstone, Smith, Collier, Jones, Tovo, Stannard, Prosser-Shaw. Manchester: Barrow; Baker, Graham, Hughes, Leuila; Leyden, Thompson; Batt, Hewson, Bieniaze (Kelly), Norris, Bradshaw (Gunson), Muckalt, Lacey, White (Collins).