Same old story as Lions fail to take chances against Sharks

It was the same old story for the Lions on Saturday afternoon as a strong first half performance full of opportunities failed to reflect on the scoreboard, followed by a desperately poor second half performance that led to a 29-7 United Rugby Championship (URC) defeat to the Sharks.

The Lions dominated the opening 40 but went into the break level pegging at 7-7, after flyhalf Gianni Lombard missed three penalties and the team butchered two very good try scoring opportunities which would have put them in a great position.

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They then fell away spectacularly in the second half as the visitors scored 22 unanswered points, leading to another disappointing loss for the home side.

Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen believes that their inability to take their opportunities and not being able to revert to the basics cost them in the end.

“The challenge for us is when the pressure is really on to fall back to the basics and keep it simple. To try and force a solution at the back instead of playing towards what the obvious solution is, and that is what hampered us,” explained Van Rooyen.

“We tend to force it to the back and squeeze it to almost force a solution, instead of playing what the obvious option is.

 “If we had taken those points in the first half and managed to score the two obvious opportunities, we then start the second half in a different position, and when the pressure is on as you have a bit of a buffer to get out of it. Unfortunately we didn’t manage to do that.

Happy man

Sharks coach Neil Powell by contrast was a happy man and was thrilled that his weakened side, without their Springbok stars, were able to bounce back from a heavy defeat against the STormers and put in a performance full of character against the Lions.

“I think we showed good character. We weren’t as clinical as we would have liked. The rain just before and during the game made the ball a bit greasy and difficult to handle. So we couldn’t gain any early momentum,” said Powell.

“We managed the game a lot better in the second half, especially with Curwin (Bosch) trying to pin them in the corner with some long kicks. So it took us a while to adjust to the conditions.

“But we would like to show that fight and character every game so that we can have a bit more continuity going forward.”

Both the Lions and Sharks will be in action this coming weekend as they take on Glasgow Warriors and Ulster respectively, with them being catch-up games after both UK sides were unable to field teams earlier in the competition after outbreaks of illness in their squads.