More 'belief' creeping into Lions squad after Swansea win

REACTION: Lions head coach says there is more “belief” creeping into his squad.

The Johannesburg side kicked off their United Rugby Championship tour with a thrilling 28-27 win over Ospreys in Swansea.

It was a morale-boosting win for the side after they started their campaign with a 15-31 defeat to the Bulls at Ellis Park.

Van Rooyen said his team is starting to have more confidence in the plan.

“We have more belief in ourselves, in what we are doing and what we want to represent.

“This is a big away win against an unbelievable Ospreys team.

“It’s good to start the tour off with a win.

“We also won the first one against Zebre last year, so it’s important to back it up with a good week of preparation.”

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The Lions were behind on the scoreboard for most of the game, but they stayed in touch before Edwill van der Merwe landed the killer blow with a try.

Van Rooyen said it showed plenty of character.

“We felt that at half-time we gave them two relatively easy tries; it was more individual and systematic errors from our side more than it was individual brilliance,” said the Lions coach.

“I think we put them under pressure defensively and if we could minimize the penalties and continue working hard we could turn it in our favour which was evident in the last two or three minutes.

“So I am really proud of the effort and character in the 80 minutes but especially in the last quarter of the game.”

The Lions now head to Cardiff where they are hoping to make it two from two on the trot against Cardiff on Friday.