Lions put up a ‘street fight’

The Lions appear to have finally turned the corner.

And it’s no surprise coach Ivan van Rooyen (above) described Saturday’s United Rugby Championship win against Irish powerhouse Munster as one of the most significant performances of his career.

“As head coach this is the most significant,” said Van Rooyen about the 23-21 win at Ellis Park, which he called a “street-fight performance”.

“It’s not because of the win, but rather because of the character shown by the players. It was awesome.”

The Lions were down 14-0 early in the match and trailed 21-10 at the break. They then kept Munster pointless in the second period and edged the visitors at the death, thanks to a massive defensive effort.

Van Rooyen likened the win to the Lions’ 23-17 victory over the Chiefs in Hamilton in Super Rugby in April 2019, which he said had been the biggest of his career, though he was then an assistant coach.

The Lions went into Saturday’s match on the back of a 37-20 win against Cardiff after going into that game having lost five in a row and under pressure.

“I’m very proud, you can feel the energy and the buzz (among the players). It makes working hard worthwhile,” said a relieved and happy Van Rooyen.

“The total commitment by the players to the cause was great. We’ll certainly take a lot of confidence out of this win, even though it was far from a polished performance.

“It was a street fight, there was pressure for 80-minutes, but that’s why we’ll move forward with confidence.”

Captain Burger Odendaal lauded the team’s spirit and togetherness, and their “massive” defensive effort.

“The biggest thing we will take out of this performance is confidence and belief that we can do it,” the skipper said afterwards.

“And if the guys don’t have confidence after this, I’m not sure what’s going to give them confidence.”