The Lions’ capitulation in the Challenge Cup at Ellis Park against the Ospreys is a wake-up call to the side to be more consistent in their performances during the rest of the season.
After being on the verge of sealing a possible home play-off in the European tournament on Sunday, the Jozi side will now have to travel to Italy in April to face Benetton in the knockouts.
They let a 28-17 lead slip in the final 10 minutes of Sunday’s clash at Ellis Park to concede three tries and fall to a 38-28 defeat, their first in all competitions against the Welsh side.
The Lions were leading comfortably going into the final 20 minutes and were pushing for more tries, despite their discipline costing them at times, but the last of their three yellow cards opened the door for the Ospreys to fight back and secure the victory.
This weekend, the Lions face the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld in the United Rugby Championship, and they will have to perform out of their skin to pick up a win against the in-form Pretoria side.
Despite the Challenge Cup loss, Lions head coach Ivan van Rooyen believes his side will be up for the Jukskei derby at Fort Loftus.
“It (the loss) is not a wake-up call before the Bulls game, I have no doubt we will be ready for it,” he said.
“I think it is a wake-up call in terms of you can’t expect to just go through the motions.
“This is a high-performance sport. Every team that you play against will want to beat you, and an iconic stadium like this is going to lift any opponent’s performance.
“This was our first home game of the year, and our third overall. We really wanted to put in a good performance for the crowd.
“Again, that is a little bit disappointing, but there is the opportunity to fix it against the Bulls.”
According to Van Rooyen, they have to quickly learn from the game, and get over it emotionally to get the bodies going for Saturday.
The dominance the Lions had on the field did not translate to the scoreboard.
Their discipline was the main thing that let them down with too many penalties conceded, while their defence in the final 10 minutes also had holes in it, especially when they had to chase the game with 14 players.
Marius Louw, Lions captain and one of the players who copped a yellow card, said their defence in the closing minutes was not a characteristic trait of the team.
“We let them in with our discipline, and in the last seven minutes our defence was not good enough. We didn’t get off the line and started waiting for them.
“They got in behind us and got the offloads away. That is not us.”
The Cheetahs, meanwhile, fought bravely with 13 players at times against Oyonnax but fell to a narrow 27-28 loss in their final pool game.
A Challenge Cup knockout tie against Clermont Auvergne in France awaits the Bloemfontein side in a few months, where they will look to keep their hopes alive in the only rugby competition they are currently taking part in.
IOL Sport