Coach Ivan van Rooyen says the Lions needed a half-time wake-up call before edging a youthful Leinster in their URC opener at Ellis Park.
The Lions trailed 19-17 at the break after Leinster scrumhalf Fintan Gunne completed a first-half hat-trick, but the hosts came out firing after the interval and held on despite a Leinster try after the hooter.
“We were in two minds defensively,” said Van Rooyen. “Part of that was us not being effective but some of it was also decent attack from Leinster. We didn’t stop momentum and when they get momentum against you they are world class.
“There were some harsh words at half-time and I think the guys responded well. In the second half we stopped momentum a lot earlier and that allowed us to apply pressure a little bit differently.”
RECAP: Lions overcome youthful Leinster
The Lions coach reserved special praise for his bench, singling out flank Siba Qoma in particular.
“You will never beat Leinster with 15 guys, they are too good an outfit,” he said. “Everyone made a difference but especially the front row [SJ Kotze, Morné Brandon and RF Schoeman] and Siba managed to help swing the momentum. He was exceptional in physicality and in collision. JC [Pretorius] brought a bit of a spark. The forwards made a big difference when they came on.”
With five Lions URC debutants in the match 23, Van Rooyen was pleased with what he saw from the new faces.
“It’s nice for Hyron [Andrews] to get on, he strengthens our lineout immensely,” he said. “Boeta [Chamberlain] covers 10 and 15 and is deceptively quick. Boan [Venter] strengthens your set-piece a lot and we are excited about what he can do.
“Especially for the two young ones, Ethan [Adams] being 20 and Zian [Cilliers] being 21, it was awesome for them to get their first cap. I hope it’s the start of something special.”
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Captain Francke Horn said the win was a reward for the team’s character despite an imperfect performance.
“We are relieved. There were moments that we were really good and moments that weren’t good enough.
“We wanted to put up a better performance but rather win and work on it than lose. I am proud of the guys sticking it out and making sure we got the win.
“Behind the posts you get a message [from the coaches] and the boys executed well,” he added.
“The soft moments weren’t great and the second half was quite an arm wrestle. I’m very glad we found a way.”
Photo: Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images
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Coach Ivan van Rooyen says the Lions needed a half-time wake-up call before edging a youthful Leinster in their URC opener at Ellis Park.
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