Coach Ivan van Rooyen says a malfunctioning lineout and defensive errors cost the Lions at Hive Stadium on Friday night.
The visitors suffered a 31-10 defeat to Edinburgh after trailing 5-3 at the break.
Crucially, the Lions lost six lineouts and struggled to build attacking momentum, while Edinburgh capitalised on defensive lapses to score five tries.
“The lineout was difficult,” Van Rooyen admitted afterwards. “The conditions were wet, cold and a little windy.
“Credit to them, their lineout is good, as we also saw against the Stormers, but it’s not good enough from us.
“Some of it was timing, some of it was accuracy, and without lineout ball you’re going to struggle to get your attack going, build momentum and put pressure on them.
“So it’s clearly an area that didn’t work well tonight.”
REPORT: Unbeaten Edinburgh take down Lions
Van Rooyen was also frustrated by other areas of their game.
“On defence we made three fatal mistakes that resulted in points, and on attack we couldn’t really build momentum or hold on to the ball for long enough. The one or two times we actually did that well, Batho [Hlekani] scored a nice try.
“In attack, we lost a bit of shape tonight as well. We didn’t really get momentum early on, and that makes it difficult in these conditions.
“If you don’t get momentum, it’s difficult to generate momentum, and then you have to go into a kicking game and hope to get the ball back or hope for a favourable outcome.
“So there are a lot of small things we need to work on and focus on.”
REPORT: Sharks trounce Cardiff, but suffer Giant loss
The Lions are also still dealing with the emotional toll of the death of lock Hyron Andrews.
“Obviously, it’s difficult,” said Van Rooyen. “Like I said last week, there’s no manual for this.
“It is tough not being at home. Obviously, what we went through a week ago, it’s not getting any easier being in Scotland for two weeks, with the rain and cold and all of that.
“But unfortunately, those are the cards that have been dealt to us currently. So it’s also our responsibility to pull together and see if we can find solutions.”
It doesn’t get any easier for the Lions, with a match against the Glasgow Warriors at Scotstoun Stadium next Friday night.
“We know Glasgow are a team that want to play,” said Van Rooyen. “If your discipline isn’t good, they’re going to kick it to the corner and they’re going to maul you with 10 or 12 players. So discipline is important for next week.”
Photo: @edinburghrugby/Instagram
The post Cash: Lions lineout not good enough appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Coach Ivan van Rooyen says a malfunctioning lineout and defensive errors cost the Lions at Hive Stadium on Friday night.
The post Cash: Lions lineout not good enough appeared first on SA Rugby magazine. Read More
