Van Rooyen admits Lions’ systemic flaws but insists they have to back the model

While he concedes the Lions' recruitment model heaps more pressure on a largely young and inexperienced squad, head coach Ivan van Rooyen admits they are obliged to play the cards they've been dealt.

The Lions again crashed in a derby match that invited questions about how their business model is not tailored for the demands of a highly competitive international competition.

Their 29-7 defeat at Ellis Park to the Sharks on Saturday all but puts paid to their aspirations of finishing in the United Rugby Championship's top eight.

“Our system is a little different,” the coach admitted. “When you back the youngsters they need to swim really quickly.

“We are probably in need of a bit of depth. That is a short-term need for us.

“Quan Horn and Ruan Venter are playing and they're 20, 21, playing at a very high level. We also had Ruan Delport making his debut.

“The youngsters are getting a lot of playing time but it is about learning under pressure. Not just them but the spine of our team.”

The coach then added: “It is important for us to back the system. When you look at the bigger picture,” admitting that the addition of three or four players might make a difference.

Though the Sharks had to rest all their elite Springboks, they still had enough firepower to deal with what the Lions threw at them.

“They had international players on the bench in [Sikhumbuzo] Notshe and [Ben] Tapuai, who came on to join the others. Then they have eight Springboks who are rested.”

The difference in class showed as the Lions lacked composure when they were on the front foot, and when the Sharks went up a gear.

“We need to stick to how we want to do things, even when we're under pressure,” said Van Rooyen, who went on to lament his team's poor game management. He insisted the Lions are not 20 points worse than the Sharks.

“I think Curwin [Bosch] showed his class in the second half in terms of territory,” he said of the man of the match.

“There was a 20-minute period where he just bossed us around. To recover from that you need your 9, 10 and 15 to get you out of there. Our kicking game was just not good enough.

“If we managed to get the nine points and score the two obvious try-scoring opportunities, that's 23 points [and] I think then you start the second half differently.”

The nine points in question were the three kickable first-half penalties that flyhalf Gianni Lombard sent wide of the uprights.

Van Rooyen went onto the field at halftime in an attempt to find corrective measures with the kicker.

“In the warm-up he pulled the ball slightly left, and in the game he didn't shank, it just went directly to the right,” the coach explained.

“He took two kicks [during half time] and with the first he made the same mistake but with the second he corrected it nicely. Unfortunately he didn't get another opportunity to kick for goal again.”

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