Errors a no-no for Lions overseas, says Van Rooyen
Being more clinical in game management will be crucial for the Lions if they want to bag a big haul of log points on their three-match United Rugby Championship tour, coach Ivan van Rooyen says.
After going down in their first match against the Bulls at Ellis Park, the Lions are facing a tough game on the road against the Ospreys on Saturday.
After the Ospreys game, the Lions face Cardiff and Edinburgh on a tour that will test their skill and endurance.
“The biggest lesson from our first trip overseas last season was that you are probably going to play against 10-plus internationals in European teams,” Van Rooyen said.
“Their game management and understanding are top notch. So you can’t afford to make errors as we did against the Bulls last week.
“We need to be a lot more clinical in terms of game management.
“Ospreys have a handful of British and Irish Lions in their spine, Cardiff are a tough, tough team and Edinburgh will threaten you with speed of play and a massive attacking game as well.
“Pretty much those last 2025 minutes is the area we need to be squeaky clean in the next few weeks.”
“Against the Bulls, I think there were — in patches — some incredible things happening on attack, defence and in fightback.
“Now we need to fix the small disciplines to stay in the moment and understand the moment.
“Those small disciplines and detail.
“In those last 20 minutes we lost set piece on our ball and through a little bit of ill-discipline we gave them penalties and they ended up in our 22 and they are probably the best team in the competition in the opponents’ 22.
“Last season at stages we felt outmuscled and that opponents were more physical and outplayed us. I don’t think that was the case against the Bulls.
“I think the game management and pressure from our side were not handled well enough.”
Van Rooyen said his team would have to adapt to playing on 4G synthetic pitches in Europe.
“The second and third games are against Cardiff and Edinburgh on the 4G pitches,” he said.
“I wouldn’t say that’s new, but it’s very different from Ellis Park.
“You play a little bit differently over there. We experienced it last season.
“The scrums are a little bit higher, the game tends to be a little bit quicker, the kicking game is a little bit different because it bounces differently there.
“We learnt some good lessons from Scarlets last year.
“That was the first Welsh team we played against.
“But I also think that playing Ospreys and Cardiff here, we got a lot of lessons out of those games.
“So we are excited to go to Wales for two weeks and then on to Scotland.”
Bulls coach Jake White said he was happy his team had started their season on a winning note against the Lions before Saturday’s home game against Edinburgh.
“The Bulls opening game would have been one of the Lions’ priorities, and I knew it was always going to be tough,” he said.
“It always is tough at the Lions and it is a difficult place to win.
“They play a style that suits them, and it’s a difficult side to break down and get rhythm in your attack.”
In other URC action this weekend, the Sharks face Zebre in Italy on Friday and the defending champions, the Stormers, are at home to Irish side Connacht on Saturday.