Lions happy to finally win one of the ‘tight ones' against bogey side the Ospreys
Asenathi Ntlabakanye of the Lions takes on the defence of Steffan Thomas and James Ratti of Ospreys during their URC clash on Saturday. Photo: BackpagePix
Image: Backpagepix
Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen was happy to put one over bogey team the Ospreys with a nail-biting 29-28 win at home on Saturday in their final match of a disappointing United Rugby Championship season.
Van Rooyen was thrilled to finally get the monkey of the past few seasons off his back, even though bot teams were only playing for pride.
The victory was secured thanks to a try after the hooter by flyhalf Lubabalo Dobela, who had an outstanding game in his first start for the Joburg side.
Henco van Wyk scored against the Ospreys on Saturday. Photo: Backpagepix
Image: Backpagepix
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Winger Edwill van der Merwe also got on the scoresheet in his farewell match that was also the last for stalwart centre Marius Louw in a Lions jersey.
"To win one of the tight ones is nice," Van Rooyen said in his post-match media conference. "I think at stages we played really good rugby, we just didn't manage to finish in the last 20m.
"The one try they scored seemed to be forward, and they put us under pressure and made it a lot tighter than the flow of the game went. But to finish at the end is really cool, to send off Marius and Edwill."
While the match may have been a 'dead rubber' for both teams in terms of the race for the URC playoffs, the coach stressed its importance as a platform for next season.
"We played on character to show what it means to us and as a group to leave us at a place where we can restart next season, so really happy with the win," Van Rooyen said.
The Joburg side's mentor admitted that the Ospreys had been tricky opponents for the Lions in recent seasons.
"I think Ospreys' defence is really good. They've showed it throughout the season. They're a really tough team, their breakdown work is really good.
"We've been struggling against them the last two or three seasons. Just happy this time we managed to convert it right at the death," he said.
"Because they don't go away – they are really tough defensively, they've got a good kicking game, their set piece is deceptive – for some reason we just seem to be on the wrong end of it against them the last two seasons. A little too tight for me but really happy with the win."
Edwill van der Merwe gave Lions fans the perfect parting gift with the opening try in Saturday's match against the Ospreys
Image: Backpagepix
Van Rooyen reserved glowing praise for Van der Merwe, who is heading to the coast to join the Sharks, and Louw, who is joining the Sale Sharks in England.
"It was really an honour and a privilege to have them in our system. They are great team guys, ultimate professionals on and off the field, so to have them in our system was awesome. To lose them obviously is then the opposite," he said.
"You never want to lose two of your most senior players, experience wise, performance wise. So we wanted to get a win for them as well. Their contribution this season and in previous seasons was immense.
"Sad to see them go. Good luck to Maro in England, and we'll see Edwill soon."
He said the Lions would rest for the next few weeks before beginning pre-season preparations for the Currie Cup and next season's URC.
"It's important for us to heal the bodies and get re-energised so then we can start building again."
But the post-mortem on a season that started promisingly before it all fell apart for the team from the highveld will probably go on for a while.
The Lions eventually finished in eleventh place.
"We need to get the guys probably physically 1% better to maintain contribution in collision. Rugby IQ probably still needs to improve and that will be a massive focus in pre-season, and just our decision-making under pressure and skill execution," Van Rooyen concluded.
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