Lions 'definitely not good enough'

REACTION: There was no sugarcoating the Lions’ 13-36 defeat to the Scarlets on Friday.

At the back of a sensational win over Zebre last week, the Lions crashed back down to earth in their Round Two United Rugby Championship match against Scarlets.

The Lions were far from last weekend’s attacking threat.

Ruben Schoeman scored the South Africans’ only try with Jordan Hendrikse kicking eight points.

The defence was just as troubling as they conceded four tries in Llanelli.

“Not great from our side in terms of consistent pressure and consistency in what we wanted to achieve,” Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen told reporters after the defeat.

“I felt we were not effective enough in the opponents’ 22 and not patient enough in our kicking game and Scarlets managed to convert that into pressure on us.”

#ICYMI: @scarlets_rugby gave the @LionsRugbyCo a big dose of reality, when they beat them 36-13 in #Llanelli on #Friday #Rugby @URCOfficial#UnitedRugbyChampionship #SCAvLIO https://t.co/iIaGqOlXey

— rugby365.com (@rugby365com) October 2, 2021

Start of the end?

It was not one of the best outings for the Joburg side and Van Rooyen pinpointed their set-piece and inability to adjust to the pace of the match as the culprits.

“We were slow in the majority of the things,” Van Rooyen said.

“Our line-outs were inconsistent and we couldn’t build any pressure from the line-out.

“With the yellow card [ for Sibahle Maxwane in the 66th minute] and us turning our backs for a second, they were brave and it worked out for them.

“I think if we managed to get some points at that point it couldn’t be close, but that moment took the game away from us.”

Lions captain Burger Odendaal shared his coach’s sentiments.

“They caught us off-guard, we were already slow to set and their pace just gave them the front foot,” Odendaal said.

“It is an area we have to work on, I think the same thing happened against the British and Irish Lions and I think they certainly took some notes from that game.

“But it’s definitely not good enough. We can’t expect to compete at this level if we perform like that.”

When asked about his decisions to opt for line-outs – knowing it was far from effective – instead of the penalty kicks – Odendaal said: “We always try to get seven points instead of just three.

“However, we have to look at that and maybe in the future take the points with the boot instead of opting for the line-out.”

In terms of injuries, the coach revealed Springbok Ruan Dreyer sustained a knock to the arm.

While Jordan Hendrikse will undergo scans after he left the field with an ankle injury.

The Lions travel to Scotland next for a match against Glasgow Warriors, followed by a clash against Ulster.

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