Oh so close for the brave Lions: ‘So much good stuff to take out,’ says skipper Horn
· Citizen
An incredible performance from the Lions saw them threaten to pull off the impossible as they almost upset the All Blacks before falling to a thrilling 41-35 loss in their Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry tour match at Ellis Park on Tuesday night.
The Lions, often viewed as the weakest of the South African United Rugby Championship franchises, ended up producing the most impressive showing, as they pushed the All Blacks to the limit, in an enthralling match.
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When captain Francke Horn dotted down off the back of a monster scrum in the 46th minute the Lions had built a superb 35-17 lead, but as we have become accustomed on their tour, the All Blacks produced another second half show to take the lead for the first time in the 62nd minute, before sealing the win with their seventh try in the 79th minute.
It concludes the All Blacks’ tour matches against the SA franchises, after they beat the Stormers 38-21, Sharks 54-0, Bulls 50-19, and kept their unbeaten run intact after they beat the Boks 33-16 in the first Test at the same ground over the weekend.
Horn was a very pleased man with the efforts of his side after the match, and said they had shown everyone exactly what they wanted to.
Unbelievable opportunity
“What an unbelievable opportunity we had tonight. Some of us have never played Super Rugby, so it was the first time playing against All Black players and testing ourselves against the best. Congrats to them on a good win,” said Horn.
“From our team, everybody played for one another. Yes, there were one or two soft moments, but there is so much good stuff to take out of that (performance) into the URC.
“It was a big game for us. We wanted to test ourselves and see where we are. I think we showed tonight where we are as a team and where we want to go.
“Since I’ve been at the Lions I have never heard Ellis Park like this. We heard them cheering every single time and they carried us a lot. So thanks everyone for coming out on a Tuesday night. We really appreciate you guys and hopefully will see you all season when the URC starts,” said the captain in a TV interview afterwards.
Rising loose forward talent Siba Mahashe produced an action packed performance, featuring an intercept try, a superb try assist and an all-round effort across the park, and was deservedly named man-of-the-match.
“Obviously for some of us this is a once in a lifetime opportunity (facing the All Blacks). So the message from the coaches was to just express ourselves and that was what we did,” said Mahashe.
“It was always going to be a tough game. We would have liked to slow the ball down more today, but unfortunately we couldn’t at times. But playing against the All Blacks that is always going to be a challenge.
“We had to fight fire with fire. We knew that they were going to bring it tempo wise, and we just had to make sure we matched that tempo, but unfortunately the result wasn’t on our side tonight.”
Good work out
All Blacks captain on the night, Patrick Tuipulotu, praised the efforts of the Lions and admitted that the match had been a good work out and experience for many of the extended squad.
“Thank you to the Lions and the fans that came out tonight. It was a really tough game, the Lions really brought it to us. They pressured us right from the start and put us on the back foot,” explained Tuipulotu.
“Some ill-discipline and a few penalties there and they managed to capitalise. So it was a very tough game for us and I am happy we got the win in the end. Credit to a good Lions team that really made us work hard.
“It’s obviously a different squad to the Test squad. We had a few young guys who have only played a few games, or made their debut tonight. For a lot of those guys it was a new experience playing here in South Africa against a different side who they haven’t played before.
“We will take the learnings and it has been a bit of an occasion. To play four club sides here in South Africa has been really good for us. For us who played tonight we were pushed to the limit and one or two can be really proud of their effort.”