‘We lost, but they did not beat us’ – Lions focus on positives

The Lions were fully focused on the positives after a tight 13-9 loss against the Glasgow Warriors in their United Rugby Championship match at the Scotstoun Stadium on Saturday.

No mention was made by coach Ivan van Rooyen or captain Burger Odendaal of the refereeing howler that saw the Warriors receive an underserved try that arguably played a vital role in them claiming the win, with both choosing to rather focus on the positive and where the Lions went wrong in a game they could have won.

“I think there were two or three reasons why we were frustrated in not getting the result, physically we were really good for 90% of game and territorially we were good and that’s why we feel the frustration,” explained Van Rooyen.

“It’s almost a case of us losing the game and not necessarily them beating us, so a lot of positives but there is the frustration of not coming away at the end, but really proud of the guys effort and the way they put their bodies on the line physically today.”

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Odendaal was also disappointed with the result but happy with the step forward from his team after a poor showing in their previous match against Scarlets.

“They boys are really gutted, I think it was a massive improvement from our last game against Scarlets, so hats off to the boys they really came out and gave it their all against the Warriors tonight, I think it’s just a South African thing we expect to be the best in the shortest turn around,” said Odendaal.

“We are still a new squad, we have had barely a month with our new assistant coaches, so it is all about building progress, small steps at a time, but it was a huge improvement already from the boys.”

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A particular highlight for the Lions was the performance of utility back EW Viljoen who slotted in at flyhalf after an injury crisis saw regulars Jordan Hendrikse and Eddie Fouche ruled out, which will also give the Lions confidence along with their defensive performance going into the Ulster match this coming weekend.

“I think the biggest improvement was defensively, we stopped momentum, we were scrambling that first 15 minutes and the guys really adapted well and as the conditions got tougher our physicality improved so that was a massive improvement,” said Van Rooyen.

“Also losing two 10s and EW slotting in our kicking game worked well, we managed to reapply pressure back onto them, unfortunately our conversion rate in the 22m wasn’t good enough and there were one or two crucial skill errors in that last 12 minutes that was expensive.”