JOHANNESBURG - After two games, two wins and a breach into the top four, there was much relief expressed by the Golden Lions after a narrow 22-19 victory over Western Province on Saturday night at Emirates Airline Park.
The comfort of triumph was notable in both coaching staff and players after the match, but it also stressed that the team is feeling the pressure to win and to secure a semi-final berth in the Currie Cup next month.
“To be honest,“ said coach Ivan van Rooyen after the tough encounter, “I am very relieved ... Truly, it was a 23-man effort and in the last 10 minutes the guys really dug deep.
“We we desperate for the result,“the coach continued.
“It is a nice reward for the guys. They are really, really working hard, they are really putting the effort in, the time, the hours, so we are fortunate and blessed.”
On the one side of the coin, the Lions might consider themselves lucky to have claimed the victory.
For the majority of the match they were on the back foot, trailing WP on the scoreboard and also in key areas such as the scrums.
But the flipside was that the Joburgers never gave up, and instead of shirking their duties, the team stepped up to chip away at the Cape Townians and claim an all-important victory.
That unyielding characteristic within their ranks, now reinforced, will go a long way in fostering belief within the side that anything is possible, as long as they work as a unit, stick to the gameplan, and execute their ambitions.
“I think it was obvious to see that the guys really pitched up physically,” said the coach of that never-say-die attitude.
“There were one or two errors (during the first half), or one or two things we wanted to clear up in our rucking.
“Tactically, we felt the plan was working for us, we needed to just stay patient and keep on working on the plan.
“It was a very controlled halftime from the coaches and players ... (we knew) that the emotions for the next 40-minutes – calm heads, big hearts – was going to be important.“
And that proved to be the case as the Lions rumbled forward, only to be denied by a staunch WP defence.
Game management, therefore, became of the utmost importance for captain Elton Jantjies, especially in the last 10 minutes of a brutal match, and the Springbok flyhalf showed his tactical awareness of the match situation with thoughtful and measured consideration.
Alongside the seniors of the team, Jantjies ensured that at every opportunity the team opted for points instead of flair – it ultimately kept them in the game – and resulted in Tiaan Swanepoel completing a solid outing at fullback by slotting over the winning penalty in the final minute of the game.
“Ja, for the full 80 minutes the belief was there in winning the game and giving ourselves an opportunity to win the game,” said the skipper.
“It is easy to lose patience, especially from a leadership point of view. You have to make decisions in the moment, and luckily we have a lot of leaders in the team, and there were guys stepping up ... I just felt the last 10 minutes was going to be massive in terms of game management and decision making ...”
The Lions next face the Free State Cheetahs, who are now desperate for a win after losing to the Blue Bulls on Saturday, in Bloemfontein this weekend.
But if the Lions stick to their guns and hold onto their belief, it is not outside the realms of possibility that they can snatch a victory there as well.
@FreemanZAR