Emirates Lions head coach, Ivan van Rooyen said their 38-14 win over the Hoywoodbets Sharks in a United Rugby Championship Round 12 clash at a wet Emirates Airline Park on Saturday.
"If you look at the weather and the week we had in terms of injuries, I think it was our best game of the season," van Rooyen said.
"I am unbelievably proud of the work rate and performance. It was probably the best we have played in terms of game management and understanding how we want to play under the circumstances."
"We put a huge emphasis on work rate this week. They showed against the Bulls that they are fit, tough and quick, so I was really proud of the effort."
"Our defence has improved since December. The decision-making has improved big time."
The Lions will travel to Hollywoodbets Kings Park in a rescheduled Round One clash.
"Just mentally they are going to be 10 to 15 per cent better anyway, so it’s a big week in prep for us."
"It was four games in a row against a South African team. After this week we’ve got a bye or two, so we can really get stuck into prep this week."
"They (Sharks) are a proud team and we know that they are going to fight back with everything that they have."
"After that, we’ve got two more away games in the URC and a European Challenge Cup game again."
"Hopefully, we can win that Round of 16 game and then it’s either stay there [for a quarterfinal] or it’s back here."
"We can’t control that, but what we can control is our prep, our mindset and our understanding of what we are doing well currently."
The Lions were without stars Quan Horn and Henco van Wyk and lock Ruan Delport was injured early on in the match.
“Tapiwa Mafura had a massive game, Siba Qoma as well. We can feel the squad is growing and players are stepping up. Quan Horn, Henco van Wyk and Ruan Delport should all be back before our tour to the UK.”