Ivan van Rooyen hails Lions’ most significant win under his coaching
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Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen hailed his team's heroic 23-21 win over much-fancied Munster as his team's most significant with him at the helm.
After a lacklustre first half at Ellis Park, the Lions turned things around as they kept the tourists scoreless in the second after delivering a stoic performance in defence in their United Rugby Championship (URC) match.
“The first significant one before I was head coach was against the Chiefs in Hamilton,” Van Rooyen said about the 23-17 win in 2019 when he took charge in the absence of Swys de Bruin.
“As head coach this is the most significant one, especially given the manner in which we won. It showed character and that is awesome,” said Van Rooyen.
The win over Munster, regarded among the top three European teams in the competition, will come as huge confidence booster for the Lions. Munster may have some of their best players on international duty but they are still a very well-drilled side, as was evident in the first half.
Van Rooyen was immensely proud of his team, who trailed 21-10 at the break. They could not afford to fall further behind and had to dig deep midway through the second half when they had to repel wave upon wave of Munster attack.
“The big turning point was, it felt like 15 minutes that we were in our 22 and I don't know how many phases,” said captain Burger Odendaal.
“That was massive for us. Our defence stuck. They made two metres on one carry but then we took them back again. After that phase they were down on their knees. They were man down.”
There were stellar performances from man of the match Vincent Tshituka, ace goal kicker Jordan Hendrikse, Wandisile Simelane and Carlu Sadie, while Ruan Dreyer, JP Smith, Emmanuel Tshituka and Manuel Rass made telling contributions from the bench.
Though the Lions suffered first half setbacks when Stean Pienaar and Sibusiso Sangweni left the field injured, they reorganised with aplomb.
“Losing Stean early meant Wandi [Simelane] had to play 75 minutes on the wing. I thought he did an incredible job,” Van Rooyen said.
Having absorbed what Munster threw at them, the Lions upped the tempo just enough to make for a miserable final quarter for the visitors.
Hendrikse added a penalty before Simelane found himself in space near the grandstand touchline and rounded the nearest defender for a converted try. More Lions' pressure followed, resulting in another Hendrikse penalty in the 74th minute, which proved a match-winning effort.
Odendaal said the win will do wonders for team morale and "can do" spirit.
“This is massive for the belief of the squad. We know we can beat Munster. I know it was at Ellis Park but it was a win over one of the top teams in the competition,” reminded Odendaal.