Head coach Ivan van Rooyen breathed a sigh of relief after the Lions’ bonus-point win over Cardiff on Saturday, while skipper Marius Louw hailed their spontaneity and grit.
The Lions stayed in contention for a Vodacom URC playoff spot after two tries from Emmanuel Tshituka in the final 10 minutes gave Van Rooyen’s troops a much-needed 34-13 victory at Ellis Park.
The result sees the Johannesburgers close the gap on eighth-placed Benetton to four points with two rounds left in the regular season, after the Italian outfit stunned the Sharks in Durban.
Asked post-match at Ellis Park to sum up his feelings on the big win, a beaming Van Rooyen told reporters: “Still alive, to start off, still alive. Looking at other results you don’t want to drop the ball.
“We probably need about 11 points out of the last three games so yes, there’s a lot of work and a lot of stuff to fix but it’s five points and we’re alive and breathing.”
RECAP: Mighty Manu powers Lions past Cardiff
The Lions’ opening score was well taken but Cardiff were caught asleep for the second, losing focus as Louw used a penalty to hoof a long kick downfield with Quan Horn winning the race to the line.
Tshituka and Jordan Hendrikse made telling contributions off the bench while flanker JC Pretorius was a rock in defence, putting in nine tackles and won four turnovers in a man-of-the-match performance.
“That was just Quan identifying space; I know he’s got pace so we looked up and saw the space and I backed him. It’s basically us being on the same page and reacting quickly,” Louw said.
“We didn’t plan on going for quick-taps … but it’s something we have in our arsenal and once we use it, we do it well.
“We pride ourselves on our attack but we come alive with our defence. We make sure that we get up front and get off the line and make sure that we get good hits and stay in our system.
“And when we do that we get turnover ball and that’s when our back three are so dangerous. We make sure that we defend well so we’re able to score off it.”
Photo: Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images
The post Lions ‘still alive’ in URC playoffs hunt appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Src: sarugbymag.co.za
