The Lions had been disappointed with a performance that noticed them produce contrasting halves that led to them happening 31-22 against the Stormers of their United Rugby Championship match at Ellis Park on Saturday.
An spectacular first half performance noticed them take a robust 22-10 lead into the halftime break, solely to observe because the Stormers ran in three tries and 21 unanswered factors within the second half to grab a bonus level win in the long run.
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“It was yin and yang. It was just a complete turnaround. I felt we had control after the first 40 and we lost that control in the second 40,” stated Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen.
“If your lineout then doesn’t function, you can’t build pressure back and you end up playing in the wrong half of the field as well as defending. Normally that combination doesn’t work so well.”
An enormous second within the match occurred within the 65th minute, after the Stormers had dominated the primary 25 minutes of the half, however had solely managed to cut back the deficit to 22-17 at that stage.
The Lions obtained a few penalties within the Stormers 22m, the second from proper in entrance of the uprights, and in contrast to within the first half once they took each alternative to kick over factors, this time they selected to faucet and go, with the Stormers ultimately incomes a penalty and clearing.
“We felt the momentum did swing a little bit. I think three points there would have been massive, and we have already had a chat about it,” admitted Van Rooyen.
“It is a good educational moment there. When you feel the momentum slipping and you are starting to lose your grip (on the match), something like that could potentially turn it around.”
Mixed feelings
Stormers coach John Dobson then again was glad with the top outcome, however not impressed with his group’s performance, claiming that it was one in every of their worst of the season.
But he did have some complimentary phrases for the Lions and stated they had been constructing one thing particular.
“I am very pleased with the result. Our process was poor and there were some mitigating factors. But I will say the Lions deserve a lot of credit. They put us under a lot of pressure and I was tearing my hair out at a couple of our decisions in the first half,” stated Dobson.
“If they (can) keep this side together it’s going to be a very good rugby team. I think Ellis Park is going to be a very tough place to play this season. So for us to get five points here is a massive achievement.”
With the groups now coming into a 3 week break for the November internationals, it’s going to be a very good interval for the Stormers, whereas the Lions might want to mirror and work out how you can bounce again, with them nonetheless winless at house this season.
“This is going to be a long three weeks. As Dobbo (Dobson) said to me (earlier), sitting on a win is different to sitting on a loss. Our first two games in the next block are against international opponents here, so the best time to fix it is over the next two games here,” stated Van Rooyen.
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