Emirates Lion's defence Coach, Jaque Fourie admitted after the 24-43 defeat against Connacht, that the challenging tour schedule took its toll on the team.
Before leaving for Europe the Emirates Lions lost away to the Cell C Sharks and DHL Stormers before embarking on their European tour where they lost three of the four matches they played.
They are currently 13th on the United Rugby Champions log and qualified for a home top-16 playoff match in the EPCR Challenge Cup.
“Being on the road has been really tough, however, it was the cards that we were dealt,” Fourie said.
“I don’t think it will happen again, it was just due to Worcester Warriors that fell out of the Challenge Cup because of financial implications.
“The guys are happy to go back home now. We have to press the reset button and we have four/five games at Ellis Park that we need to win if we want to be contenders in the top eight of the URC.”
Fourie admitted that the Emirates Lions gave Connacht too much space and said that the set pieces were also a major struggle.
“It was really tough, we didn’t play in the right areas of the field, whereas Connacht played in the right areas, kept the ball for a few phases and didn’t get anywhere and kicked into space.”
“Connacht has a few tall timbers which are good for them. In the URC competition, they are second with line-out steals which made it tough for us. If you can’t win your set piece you can’t play off that, so we have to press the reset button and work on all aspects of the game.”
