Lions lacking composure and consistency

The Lions offset some of their recent gains abroad by coming up short at home against Ulster in the United Rugby Championship (URC) on Saturday.

Their three-match winning run abroad created much optimism for the remainder of their campaign but they lacked the wherewithal and grit to deny an admittedly redoubtable Ulster at Ellis Park.

Their 39-37 defeat means the Lions are yet to win a game at home in the URC this season, which will be a source of huge frustration for coach Ivan van Rooyen.

Tactical naiveté and poor execution contributed richly to their defeat. There were times when they played too much in their own half and on other occasions they kicked away possession when Ulster looked vulnerable. To compound matters, when they kicked they did so poorly.

Though they played with enterprise and staged a spirited rearguard action to close an 18-point gap to just two, Van Rooyen bemoaned his team's lack of composure and consistency.

Conceding three tries either side of the break swung the match decisively in the street smart visitors' favour.

“Those 20 minutes summed up the frustration,” sighed Van Rooyen. “I think we showed great character to come back. One or two crucial errors. Marius [Louw] just missing the ball before the line, we felt we gave it away too easily.”

Few teams in the URC are endowed with better game management than Ulster, while their set pieces are almost always exemplary. Some of the Lions' woes in the latter department, however, are self-induced.

“You can only build pressure when you win the set piece. With the last line-out we still felt we had an opportunity. To miss that is obviously frustrating,” said the coach.

What he was referring to was the vastly experienced Andries Coetzee's failure to find touch with a penalty with time almost up and the Lions two points down.

At the end of the first half fault lines in character revealed itself. Hooker Jaco Visagie's crooked feed close to the hosts' try line gave Ulster a foothold. The Lions, desperate to keep the visitors at bay in the frenzy just before the break lost Henco van Wyk to the sin bin. During his banishment they conceded three tries either side of the break.

Overall, the Lions' line-out simply lacked authority.

When asked about their shortcomings at the line-out Van Rooyen preferred to point to Ulster No 8 Duane Vermeulen's proficiency in that facet.

His failure to gaze inward stands in contrast to the unvarnished view expressed by defence coach Jaque Fourie in the build-up when he spoke about players not stepping up to the plate.

Fourie sagely noted how the Lions can no longer continue with players who don't perform their primary functions, stressing they will find players who can.

Van Rooyen wants his players to be calmer and succumb less to the charms of helter skelter rugby in front of their home fans. “Against the Bulls it feels like we just wanted to overpower instead of building steadily.

“It is too helter skelter instead of sticking to the plan. Calm down, take a deep breath and go on,” said the coach who also admitted his team was under “a bit of pressure to perform well” now that they are at home.

Despite the setback Van Rooyen believes his team is on the right trajectory. “We are really in a good space, playing for each other and showing character. For us it is more about fixing skill than the other stuff.”

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