Emirates Lions head coach Ivan van Rooyen remained positive following their final tour match when Ulster came from behind to beat the Lions 24-17 at a windswept Kingspan Stadium scoring three tries to the visitors’ two in the game which was in the balance throughout.
Despite the loss, Van Rooyen said “We’re good enough to compete, and good enough to really turn the team around and probably go within the top four or five in the competition.
“Individual errors and one or two system errors we need to work on but there’s great fight and great character in the team. There’s a lot to get excited about and we need to convert them into wins.”
“It’s probably 25 degrees different in SA now, but we as a team want to be proud of our toughness, when the weather or the circumstances get tough that’s when we want to stand up especially. Immensely proud of the fight and adapting to the conditions."
“Disappointed with the result and felt we were really in it and gave ourselves a real opportunity to come away with an historic win. Probably one kick-off receive and one or two scrum penalties away from that."
“Speaking to Ulster afterwards, the tempo we played at really put them under pressure.”