It’s not often you get a sense of a coach feeling he could’ve gotten more out of his team after they scored five tries, but those are the high standards Lions boss Ivan van Rooyen is trying to inculcate in his team this season.
After the disappointment of going down in the final minute of the Currie Cup final, the Johannesburg side picked themselves up off the floor and delivered a fine response to beat Ulster 35-22 in their United Rugby Championship opener at Ellis Park on Saturday.
Apart from the five touchdowns by Rabz Maxwane, Francke Horn, Franco Marais, Henco van Wyk and Kade Wolhuter, it was also the Lions’ first triumph over the men from Belfast at their fourth attempt.
Springbok Quan Horn delivered a superb performance at fullback to be named the Player of the Match, as he drilled Ulster into their half with his big boot and sparked some thrilling counter-attacks.
But the Lions’ enterprising play came on the back of a dominant scrum, where the front row of Morgan Naudé, PJ Botha and Asenathi Ntlabakanye got the edge over their more experienced opponents, while the lineouts and mauls also functioned well.
Van Rooyen, though, knows the backline didn’t operate as smoothly as he would’ve liked, with a few knock-ons and wrong options hampering their finishing, with halfbacks Sanele Nohamba and Wolhuter not always in sync.
“The goal was five points, and a lot, a lot of things to fix. But if you look at the bigger picture – we had two sessions to prepare, six debutants in the URC for us, first time beating Ultster – then I’ll take the five points with a lot of fixing,” the Lions coach said.
“It was quite sombre earlier in the week, which was quite understandable. Everyone is in it, and that’s where we are currently – everyone is in it for the group and for us to keep going forward.
“So, obviously that loss last weekend was tough for everyone. But happy with the little continuity that we could get out of that – guys being in form. We’ll take the five, with a lot of fixing.
“We created a lot of opportunities that we didn’t round off. The positive is that we created. Maybe we could go towards the ball a bit more – they are one of the top three defensive breakdown teams in the competition. The Irish sides are really good in that, and we knew it.
“So at times, they got it right to slow the ball down, but what made me excited is that Ulster is known as a good defensive team, especially at the breakdown points, yet we had a lot of chances. Now it’s about how we capitalise on that, react quickly and decide on the right way.”
When forwards & backs collide... 🥹❤️
— BKT United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial) September 28, 2024
PJ Botha ➡️ Francke Horn ➡️ Rabz Maxwane = Try Time 🔥#BKTURC #URC | #LIOvULS pic.twitter.com/WVGAokdpsw
The return of star centre Van Wyk after a lengthy knee injury lay-off was just the boost the Lions needed off the bench, and he finished off a terrific line-break by Quan Horn in the second half.
Edinburgh will visit Ellis Park on Saturday (1.45pm start) determined to get a win after losing 22-16 to the Bulls at Loftus at the weekend.
Van Rooyen is confident that stalwart centre Marius Louw and flank JC Pretorius, who missed the Ulster clash with minor injury niggles, will be fit to play again.
“Altitude won’t affect them. They are a quality team, and probably bought and developed the best over the pre-season,” the Lions mentor said about Edinburgh.
“I see they are one of the pre-tournament favourites to be the side that really improves and be in contention for the cup.
“They had a great outing last weekend (losing 33-31 to Leinster), and they are a quality team with a lot of South Africans and international players.”
Points-Scorers
Lions 35 – Tries: Rabz Maxwane, Francke Horn, Franco Marais, Henco van Wyk, Kade Wolhuter. Conversions: Wolhuter (2). Penalties: Wolhuter (2).
Ulster 22 – Tries: John Cooney, Aidan Morgan, Werner Kok, Corrie Barrett. Conversions: Nathan Doak (1).