Johannesburg - The Lions’ season ended in an anticlimax that was of equal measure brilliant to watch, frustrating to witness and predictable to see.
There were some truly special plays during the last-gasp 39-36 loss to Leinster on Saturday at Ellis Park, but then it eventually petered out into a disastrous final quarter where the home team lost all control and semblance of their intent.
That has been the story of the Lions this season in both the United Rugby Championship and Challenge Cup – which they will now be consigned to again next season. Coach Ivan van Rooyen’s players have either started too slowly or ended too early.
In short, they have failed on most occasions to compete for a full 80 minutes. That characterisation repeated itself against Leinster where the Lions scored four tries in the first half to have a comfortable lead going into the second 40.
Instead, they blew their advantage, seeding their previous dominance to the undefeated visitors, who were playing with a collection of fringe players. The final Sam Prendergast – playing on debut in the competition, mind you – penalty in the 80th minute ended the Lions’ push for a possible URC playoff spot.
They must now prepare themselves mentally and physically for their final game of the season in the URC against Zebre at Loftus this Saturday – a dead rubber of a match that will have no impact on the tournament.
“We definitely created enough opportunities,” Van Rooyen said.
“There were one or two chances, just before halftime - like (Marius Louw’s) knock-on – which I think could have been a nail in the coffin.
“If you keep Leinster in the hunt – and it doesn’t matter what team they pick – they will be in there.
“Your game management has got to be good. I think that last 20 minutes our game management wasn’t good enough.”
That too has been the tale of the tape this season – silly and costly decisions at critical moments more akin to self-inflicted wounds, than some grand conspiracy. It happened once again on Saturday as the Lions lost their shape, kicking possession away, playing in the wrong areas and all after they showed some neat touches and brilliant plays only moments earlier.
“I think in the middle-part of the season we were too one dimensional,” said Van Rooyen.
“On Saturday, you could see a lot more dynamic attack, a lot better movement, chances created. The last five minutes to fall flat almost from that, you could say that could be the feeling.
“There has been massive growth, but we had the opportunity to beat the No 1 team on Saturday and we just didn’t do it at the end.
“I think the promising thing is this, the last six to eight weeks we have shown potentially where we can be …
“I am feeling sorry for the guys after this long season, of really hard work, seeing their intensity and intent in training. I wanted the guys to win (on Saturday) to make it special for various reasons – to keep us alive, because of the extremely hard work, Jaco Kriel’s last game …
“It is a feeling of getting the wind knocked out of you. If we weren’t good enough to win the game, we would have felt different. We did more enough to win the game.”
@FreemanZAR
IOL Sport