Johannesburg — The Lions should never have squeezed into a home ground round of 16 clash, they should have smashed their way into it. But battle into the next stage is what they eventually did, much to the rising stress levels of their supporters and, no doubt, the blood pressure of Ivan van Rooyen and Co.
Leading 27-5 at half-time against the Dragons in their final Pool B group match of the EPCR Challenge Cup, the visitors were cruising to an easy victory. They should have cantered through the second half with little trouble, but instead they made heavy weather of the final 40 minutes to hold onto a 30-25 win.
The Lions were utterly dominant in the first 40, giving their hosts not even a sniff of an opportunity. All of that good work and teamwork seemingly evaporated from their collective minds during the half-time break and they reverted to the type of play that resulted in them losing four matches on the trot.
It was nearly five, after some poor game-management in the final two minutes of the game came metres short of costing them the victory and a much easier path to the semi-finals of the tournament. An 80th minute turnover on the Lions try line denied the Dragons and saved the Joburgers – who nearly blew a 25-point buffer – from their blushes.
During the first half they had a near equal share of territory and possession, but during the second stanza played with only 18% territory and 41% possession. They went into defence mode, relinquishing the offence that had served them so well and which won them the game in the previous half.
“We are obviously happy with the result,” said Van Rooyen after the match, “especially in week three of the tour, which is normally mentally the toughest.
“I'm also happy with the way the team reacted and adapted after the late venue change.
“The second half was again a situation where we conceded penalties, as well as having little territory dominance. They are areas where we will keep on working for solutions and the ability to see the momentum back into our favour.”
It was a sentiment shared by prop JP Smith, whose wonderful try assist in the 18th minute, which set up Edwill van der Merwe to cross the whitewash, was one of the highlights of the match.
“Everything came together in the first half,” said Smith.
“We had a great start, the set-piece worked and the game-management was unreal. We need to take that into the second half and just play with confidence and not defend the points...
“We have something special building here,” the 32-year-old added. “We are looking forward to Connacht and we can just go upwards from here.”
The victory, despite being unnecessarily close at the end, will certainly be a boost for the team as they complete their tour of Europe in the west coast of Ireland on Saturday, with a United Rugby Championship fixture at The Sportsground in Galway.
If they can apply themselves as they did in the first half this past weekend, and finally understand that they are a better team with ball-in-hand, then they can resurrect their push for a Top 8 finish in the URC as well.
IOL Sport