Lions to take lessons from Bulls defeat in URC opener

The Lions will take plenty of learnings from their opening 31-15 defeat against the Bulls in the United Rugby Championship (URC) at Ellis Park over the weekend.

The home side were well in the match just after half-time, having levelled the scores, only for the visitors to show their experience and incredible depth as they pulled away in the closing stages for an impressive win.

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“I think there was some unbelievable stuff happening on attack and defence, while we showed some toughness and character to fight back,” said Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen.

“But we do have to work on and fix a few things. Like small disciplines, to stay in the moment and understand the needs of that moment is important.

“Also that last 20 to 25 minutes we lost the set piece on our ball and through a little bit of ill-discipline we gave them penalties and eventually they ended up in our 22m, and they are probably the best team in the competition in the opponents 22m.”

Sixth straight loss

This is the Lions sixth straight loss against an SA team in the URC and although their struggles against local sides has become a worrying habit, Van Rooyen believes that they can get it right as the competition goes on.

“Last season at stages we felt outmuscled and that they were more physical and outplayed us. I don’t think that was the case tonight. I think the game management and pressure from our side wasn’t handled well enough,” explained Van Rooyen.

“The easy answer is it comes with experience. Everyone doesn’t have a lot of time to fix it but you can’t just give (young) players five years of experience.

“So it’s the discipline of understanding in the moment what it is, good clarity from our side as a coaching staff, good expectation and the players responsibility to understand that and execute it under pressure, that will help us fix it.”

The Lions now head overseas for a difficult three match tour where they will play Ospreys, Cardiff and Edinburgh over the next three weeks, and they will hope to put in a big showing away from home.