Lions captain Francke Horn expressed pride in his team's character despite their 20–20 draw against Perpignan on Saturday, which resulted in the Lions being eliminated from the EPCR Challenge Cup.
Horn noted that "brutal" weather, heavy rain and wind at the Stade Aimé Giral forced the Lions to abandon their typical expansive play for a more territory-based game.
“As captain, I feel we played really well considering the conditions. We had to change the way we normally play at home because of how bad the rain and wind were, and how wet it was out there. It required us to play differently.”
He praised the pack's performance, specifically their dominance in scrums and mauls, which resulted in a penalty try and another maul-driven score.
“We had to kick more and rely more on the set-piece. I thought we were exceptional in that department. We earned a lot of scrum penalties and got two tries from mauls that kept us in the game.”
"The positive outcome from the game is that we showed we can play in that kind of weather, and that we have a strong enough pack to dominate the set-piece."
“We also have No 9s and No 10s who can put us into the right areas of the field, and on defence we can put teams under pressure.”
In the closing moments, the Lions chose to kick for the corner instead of taking a potentially match-winning drop goal or long-range penalty, a decision that ultimately saw them fail to break the deadlock before Perpignan won a crucial defensive penalty.
“We played until the final whistle, and maybe there were one or two calls that could have gone our way in the end, and in the last phase in terms of penalties in front of the poles.”
Despite the heartbreak of losing out on the Round of 16 due to points difference, Horn stated the performance showed "encouraging signs" for the team's future direction.
“The character and the adaptation shown really impressed me, and regardless of those circumstances, to still play really good rugby on top of all that.”