Head coach Ivan van Rooyen thrilled with growth of Lions team

Lions head coach Ivan van Rooyen is delighted by the growth of his team after they ended their year on a high with a bonus point 35-13 Challenge Cup win over English Premiership club Newcastle Falcons at Ellis Park last weekend.

The Lions are the only SA team not in action over the Christmas and New Year period as they enjoy a two-week break before resuming their duties in the United Rugby Championship (URC) against the Sharks in the first weekend of January.

The Highveld side endured a difficult start to the season, losing four of their opening five games in the URC, including three of their four matches on their opening European tour.

However, in none of those loses were they completely outplayed, staying in the fight until the end and earning a losing bonus point in each one.

Hitting their straps

Since returning home they have truly hit their straps and gone on a four game winning run, thumping Zebre 61-19 and Dragons 49-24 in the URC, followed by an impressive 28-12 win by their second-string side over Perpignan in France in the Challenge Cup.

They then rounded out the year in perfect style with their bonus-point victory over the Falcons, putting them in a great space ahead of a busy January period.

“I think a year-and-a-half ago we’d pray for a win. (Now) to get five points, even if it was a little bit scrappy (is great). It’s been a tough first block (of the season) in terms of loads, games and travel, so to end the first block with five points is awesome,” Van Rooyen said.

“There’s been a helluva lot of growth in specific areas. I think mentally has been the biggest growth for us in terms of togetherness, cohesiveness, mindset, approach and better execution of plans.

“There’s a lot to be excited about. Yes, there’s still errors and work-ons but a year-and-a-half ago we felt hope and potential, and currently through the hard work of the players, we’re starting to feel that at least nice forward momentum is happening.”

Season defining

It is set to be a season defining January period for the Lions as they face four important games, two each in the URC and the Challenge Cup.

On the Challenge Cup front they round out their pool play with an away clash against Montpellier in France on Saturday 13^th, and then host Ospreys at Ellis Park on Sunday 21^st, and if they can emerge with at least one win from those two games they will likely seal a home quarterfinal.

In the URC, the Lions have two massive local derbies, away in Durban against the Sharks on Saturday the 6th and again away, but this time across the Jukskei in Pretoria against the Bulls on the 27^th.

The Lions are currently ninth on the URC table, and they could be even lower by then as other teams play over the next two weeks, so they could be in a very difficult position needing to win one of those games to keep pace with the rest of the teams.