Ivan van Rooyen remained positive that the Lions can feature in the top five of the Vodacom URC despite wrapping up their European tour on Friday with another loss.
Ulster came from behind to beat the Lions 24-17 in Belfast, and The Pride must regroup to face Zebre Parma at Ellis Park next week following a 1-3 return from a four-week trip.
The Lions slipped to 13th on the log before the final fixture of round 5 this weekend, and Van Rooyen said post-match on Friday night: “We’re good enough to compete, and good enough to really turn the team around and probably go within the top four or five in the competition.
“Individual errors and one or two system errors we need to work on but there’s great fight and great character in the team. There’s a lot to get excited about and we need to convert them into wins.”
RECAP: Ulster edge unlucky Lions
Richard Kriel and Hanru Sirgel dotted down against Ulster, while Sanele Nohamba slotted two conversions and a penalty as the visitors earned a losing bonus point at a chilly and windswept Kingspan Stadium.
Van Rooyen added: “It’s probably 25 degrees different in SA now, but we as a team want to be proud of our toughness; when the weather or the circumstances get tough that’s when we want to stand up especially. Immensely proud of the fight and adapting to the conditions.
“Disappointed with the result and felt we were really in it and gave ourselves a real opportunity to come away with an historic win. Probably one kick-off receive and one or two scrum penalties away from that.
“Speaking to Ulster afterwards, the tempo we played at really put them under pressure.”
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