VIDEO: Ellis Park loss 'very painful' for ambitious Ospreys
REACTION: The Welsh regions are still searching for their first win on South African soil and the Ospreys’ play-off hopes were dealt a significant blow at Ellis Park on Friday.
Ospreys’ first game of their two-week tour of South Africa ended in heartache, as the Lions recorded a 45-15 demolition in Johannesburg.
The visitors came into the game having won two of their last three games in the United Rugby Championship, but were without nine internationals that had been involved with Wales’ Six Nations campaign.
The Lions had some real form and had claimed two successive home wins in the URC with victories over fellow Welsh region Cardiff and Irish province Munster.
Ospreys coach Toby Booth described the loss as “very painful”.
The loss means Ospreys are still hovering outside the top eight (the play-off zone), with just five rounds remaining.
“We knew how the game could go,” Booth admitted in his post-match analyses, adding: “We knew what we had to be good at and we weren’t good enough for long periods.
“That is very, very disappointing.”
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He admitted that allowing the Lions to play “loose and fast” meant they were struggling defensively.
“As the toll continues, we missed more tackles and lost more control.
“The most disappointing this is, we didn’t do what we set out to do.”
He was unsure how much of a factor the altitude was on his team, saying that they wanted to get energy from doing this well and that was their biggest downfall.
“When you score tries you get energy, when you make big hits you get energy.
“We just didn’t control enough of those moments to give us the energy to get through the tough moments in the match.
“Yes, it blew out in the end,” he said of the Lions’ three-try blitz in the final quarter that saw the score balloon from 28-15 to 45-15.
“The disappointment is we didn’t control the 60 minutes before that.
“You can’t be satisfied with a scoreline like that.”
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