Head coach Ivan van Rooyen hopes the victory over the Stormers boosts the Lions’ confidence as they refocus for three successive all-South African clashes.
Van Rooyen’s charges reignited their Vodacom URC campaign with a 30-23 win at Ellis Park, ending a five-year drought against the Stormers in Johannesburg.
Next up for the Lions is a Jukskei derby against the Vodacom Bulls at Loftus Versfeld this Saturday, followed by home-and-away clashes with the Sharks on 1 and 8 March, respectively.
“It’s a big month, isn’t it? We know we want to perform more consistently against the SA teams,” Van Rooyen said post-match at Ellis Park. “Because we play them twice [in the URC] if you can win your home games, it can make something like a 16-, 17-point difference just on the general arc.”
Three first-half tries from Morne van den Berg, Henco van Wyk and Marius Louw, along with Gianni Lombard’s accurate kicking, put the Lions in control on Saturday. The Stormers fought back with second-half scores from Warrick Gelant and Evan Roos, but the Pride’s defensive effort held firm.
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“We had some good attacking opportunities in the second part of the first half and used it,” Van Rooyen said. “The Stormers, the way they selected, wanted to open up the game. But our defensive effort was huge.
“We knew because we didn’t play last week and the Stormers played a tough game that we needed to put an emphasis on a good start.”
The win keeps the 12th-placed Lions – with two games in hand – in the playoff hunt, and brings them to within one point of the 10th-placed Stormers.
“It might feel small but we haven’t beaten the Stormers in a while and that makes it worthwhile. Hopefully it gives a little bit more to the belief [in the team],” Van Rooyen added.
“There’s still a lot of things we need to look at, but I think we looked a lot more comfortable under chaos, which against the Bulls [on 25 January] we didn’t.
“Today was important for us, it’s important for us to prep well for the Bulls, and then it’ll be interesting playing against a team twice in a row – it’s always a different dynamic.”
Photo: Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images
