Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen was left encouraged rather than deflated after his side’s 34-27 loss to the unbeaten Stormers in Cape Town.
He insists there’s enough in Saturday’s performance to feel confident about the rest of their Vodacom URC campaign.
The Lions pushed John Dobson’s table-topping side all the way at Cape Town Stadium, leading for long spells and scoring three tries, only to be undone by a decisive second-half momentum swing and a handful of pivotal moments.
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“I think we played well enough to get the win,” said Van Rooyen. “One or two moments, the ball bounced back 30m off the cricket pitch. That’s the game, it was really small margins.
“I’m really proud of the effort and really proud of the solutions we found. We lost two No 5 locks in 20 minutes. We showed great character, great fight.”
The Lions stunned the hosts with an early Ruan Venter try inside the opening minute and went into the break with a 17-10 advantage, before the Stormers’ bench and set-piece pressure began to tilt the contest.
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“One or two calls that could’ve gone either way, probably didn’t go our way and I think that was probably the difference,” Van Rooyen added.
The Lions coach believes the performance will serve as a springboard rather than a setback.
“We played against probably the most in-form team in world rugby,” he said. “After a performance like that, I’d be surprised if we get into a slump. I’m really proud of the effort.”
Photo: Grant Pitcher/Gallo Images
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