Coach Ivan van Rooyen and captain Marius Louw pinpointed an adjustment in two key areas for the Lions’ heroic comeback win against the Sharks at Kings Park.
The Lions overturned a 15-point first-half deficit through two second-half tries – the second scored by skipper Louw with less than three minutes to go – and two penalties and a conversion from Sanele Nohamba to claim a 20-18 victory.
It was the first win for a Lions team in Durban since 2017, and fifth on the trot in all competitions for Van Rooyen’s men, who climbed one place to 11th on the Vodacom URC standings after the rescheduled round 8 fixture.
RECAP: Lions fightback floors Sharks
The try that sealed the win for Emirates @LionsRugbyCo 💪
Marius Louw scoring a try and Sanele Nohamba converting in a HUGE second half comeback 🤩@Vodacom #URC #SHAvLIO pic.twitter.com/gZTZCkVE26
— Vodacom United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial_RSA) January 6, 2024
The Lions will now make a trip to France to face Montpellier on Saturday in the Challenge Cup, and speaking post-match at Kings Park, Van Rooyen told reporters: “It was a game of two halves and a battle for territory. They managed to keep us pinned in our half for the first 40 minutes.
“I think with the second half we managed to get a lot more territory, and we adapted really well to how we wanted to play.
“We felt that to give ourselves a chance we had to really be collected in the way that we execute our plan. But ja, it could’ve been two points the other way.”
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Louw added: “The biggest thing [in the first half] was we allowed them to run at us, and we didn’t get off the defensive line. They got a lot of momentum off nine and just got numbers on us and played out the back and got on the outside of us.
“That happened about two, three times like that in a row and if you’re scrambling back like that, they’re a good attacking side and you will suffer.
“In the second half, territory played a big role and then our defence was a lot better – we got off the line, we tackled them back, and we knew that when we started tackling them back they’d start kicking the ball back at us.
“That’s exactly what happened or we got a penalty, and that’s how we got back into the game.”
Photo: Steve Haag Sports/INPHO/Shutterstock