Lions boss Van Rooyen reflects on URC loss to Edinburgh

Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen backed a big call that didn’t pay off for the Lions during their difficult 31-10 United Rugby Championship (URC) defeat to high flying table toppers Edinburgh in Scotland on Friday night.

Despite the hosts slightly edging the play in a tight first half, the Lions had a huge chance to go into the halftime break ahead, after they had counterattacked from their own 22m area and hacked the ball ahead, before earning a penalty right in front of the poles deep in the hosts’ 22m area.

And with their scrum having started to gain ascendancy, which included winning a tighthead against the throw earlier in the half, the Lions chose to scrum instead of kicking at goal for a possible three points, and attacked off the back before knocking on.

Tight lead

That allowed Edinburgh to secure their own scrum as the halftime hooter went and run the ball out of play and take a 5-3 lead into the break. They then scored two early tries in the second half and never looked back.

“The call is usually to go for poles. But if they (the players) felt we had ascendancy, which the pictures were showing at that time, then they have the freedom to go for it. It was a big call made on the night and if we had scored it might have been a different result,” said Van Rooyen after the match.

“I think going into the break ahead might have given us a good feeling, but the second half performance and our execution wasn’t good enough. So it wasn’t terrible that we didn’t score from that scrum, and we were just 30cm away from doing that.

“In the moment maybe we should have taken the three and go 6-5 (up at halftime). But the players felt they had an opportunity and momentum and we will back that call. But I don’t think (taking the points) would have necessarily changed the second half, our execution has to be better.”

Costly lineouts

Another part of the Lions game that proved costly was their lineout, as it misfired over most of the night, which robbed them of a crucial aspect of their attack, and even their defence at times was poor, with Edinburgh challenging on numerous occasions and winning the ball against the throw.

“The lineout was difficult. The conditions were wet, cold and a little windy. Credit to them, their lineout is good, as we also saw against the Stormers, but it’s not good enough from us,” said Van Rooyen.

“Some of it was timing, some of it was accuracy, and without lineout ball you’re going to struggle to get your attack going, build momentum and put pressure on them. So it’s clearly an area that didn’t work well tonight.”

Van Rooyen also praised Edinburgh, who struggled in the URC last season after finishing 12th on the log, but have started the current campaign in top form, winning their opening four matches, to be the only team to have won all their games so far.

“You can definitely see it. They are good in the collision, and they generated momentum well. Once we stopped them from side to side they isolated us at the back and then kept going forward. So you can see they play with confidence and they’re a tough team to play at home,” added Van Rooyen.