The Lions got their season back on track with back-to-back wins in the United Rugby Championship at Ellis Park, with a 49-31 victory over Ulster 49-31 and a 29-18 win over Ulster two weeks ago.
A visibly relieved Cash van Rooyen, head coach of the Lions, said they knew that they had to lift their game.
“We knew we had to lift our game because Ulster had beaten two good South African teams in the Bulls and Sharks, home and away; they showed their class there.”
“So for us to manage to get five points, obviously, we’re happy with that. I’m even more proud of the work and how we did it. I think we can really build on that.”
“As the game progressed, we got more efficient. Our error rate went down a little bit. Still, our exit cycles probably put us under pressure. But we challenged [the players] hard this week and they really responded well.”
“We were creating the right pictures in that first half. We had unbelievable sets on both defence and attack.”
“If you look at the work we did in that final defensive set before half-time, it was inches in the corner; otherwise, we could have prevented that try. That shows how hard we are working.”
“At half-time, we were quite technical in our talk. We knew we could put them under pressure if we were a little more accurate.”
“We understand we need to get better and more clinical, but we also understand what pictures we are creating.”
“Everyone’s emotional after a win.”
“The feeling in the camp is very different from what people think. We know we’re moving in the right direction.”