Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen was left to lament costly errors in his team’s home United Rugby Championship clash against the Bulls on Saturday, which they lost 35-22.
The Lions looked to have weathered an early Bulls charge to lead 11-10 at half-time at Ellis Park, and the gap could have been bigger but for some wayward goal-kicking from young flyhalf Sam Francis and a try that went begging.
“At one stage in the second half, we felt we managed to turn the momentum,” Van Rooyen said in the post-match press conference.
“We scored, we were ahead. Frustrating errors from our side – two kick-offs... I think we stopped for a moment when we thought the ball was going to go out directly, and they tapped it in and that almost put us under pressure to try and play a little bit differently.
“We were good enough for some stages, but it’s not 85 (minutes) yet.”
Coach “Cash” also pointed out the gulf in experience between the neighbours, with the Bulls bench the difference on the day as they coped comfortably with a number of injuries to key players like skipper Ruan Nortjé early on.
Star flank Elrigh Louw also had to be stretchered off and rushed to hospital after his leg got trapped under his body in a tackle early in the second half.
The class of veteran Springbok fullback Willie le Roux was particularly evident late in the match as he came off the bench and orchestrated the Bulls’ play from the flyhalf berth.
He used all his experience to snuff out any hopes of another Lions fightback.
“It’s obviously difficult to speed up learning with 205 caps – I think that was the Bulls caps today. Bok caps was about 205,” Van Rooyen said.
“Bringing Willie off the bench, you see the big difference he made, Canan (Moodie) made a big difference.”
It could have all been so different for the Lions had they also made the most their first-half opportunities.
“It’s probably 10, 13 points … The difference is if you go in half-time 20-11. I think the difference on how they want to play is probably bigger than what we wanted to play,” the coach continued.
“I think in stages we allowed them to play their way, and if you going to give their big bodies momentum and quick ball, they’re tough to stop.
“At some stages we managed to play the way we wanted to play, and you could feel that we put them under stress.
“So, I think it’s almost more (about) getting them out of how they want to play instead of us changing that much if we got the 10 points.”
The Lions will enjoy a welcome break from competition before their next URC game at home against the Stormers on February 15. | Independent Media Sport
Points-Scorers
Lions 22 – Tries: Henco van Wyk, Etienne Oosthuizen. Penalties: Sam Francis (4).
Bulls 35 – Tries: David Kriel, Cobus Wiese, Marcell Coetzee, Akker van der Merwe. Conversions: Boeta Chamberlain (1), Kriel (2). Penalties: Chamberlain (2), Kriel (1).