Gutted Lions can see the positives
COACH: VAN ROOYEN IS PROUD OF GALLANT FIGHTBACK
The Lions can keep their heads up, despite being left “gutted” after their last-gasp 33-30 defeat to the Stormers in their Super Rugby thriller at Ellis Park, coach Ivan van Rooyen believes.
The win kept the Stormers undefeated after three rounds as they recorded their first victory at Ellis Park in five seasons, while it was a second loss in three starts for the Lions.
“It was courageous how we fought back and I’m very proud of the fight the guys showed,” Van Rooyen said.
“But small margins in Super Rugby is what it’s all about and it’s the difference between winning and losing.
“I’m proud of the effort. There’s a lot of things we did very well but also stuff we need to fix.”
The Lions have a bye this week, and they were due to depart on Saturday for their away leg which was to start with a match against the Waratahs in Sydney on 28 February.
“Fortunately we have a bye now to fix those (concerns) before we go on tour,” Van Rooyen said.
“We’ll give the guys off on Monday (today) and Tuesday and then have two tough training sessions on Wednesday and Thursday before we depart.”
After trailing 26-15 at the weekend, the Lions fought back to lead 30-26 before a try by Stormers centre Ruhan Nel after the hooter sounded stunned the home team.
“The plan was good and the guys stuck well to the plan, but we made one or two basic errors which they capitalised on when they took it out wide,” Van Rooyen said.
“But it was nice to see some guys stick it out for 80 minutes.”
Lions captain Elton Jantjies was superb, with his side almost silencing their naysayers, while big Willem Alberts made a massive impact from the bench in the last 21 minutes.
“Both teams went for a 6/2 split (on the bench) for the forwards battle and it was nice to see Willem getting a run,” Van Rooyen said.
“It became physical and we saw the whole bench adding a lot of energy.
“Obviously we didn’t get the result we wanted but Elton did well with his added responsibilities and he is still new to the role. He showed why he is such an experienced player and brought direction and calmness.”