VIDEO: 'You can’t buy experience'
REACTION: The Lions’ lack of experience in their set-up was a contributing factor in their 22-35 defeat to the Bulls at Ellis Park.
The Lions survived the Bulls’ early surge and were well in the contest for the vast majority of the Jukskei-Derby.
They had a 17-13 lead thanks to a Henco Van Wyk try and four Sam Francis penalties.
However, the hosts quickly relinquished the lead when the Bulls introduced Springbok Willie Le Roux in the 50th minute.
The double World Cup winner Le Roux replaced Boeta Chamberlain.
With Le Roux dictating proceeding at flyhalf, the Bulls scored three tries in a space of 10 minutes and took control of the match.
The Bulls lost some class players in the shape of skipper Ruan Nortje and Elrich Louw (both knee injuries).
However, they still managed to deny men from Johannesburg a victory.
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Lions head coach Van Rooyen conceded that the gulf in experience between the two teams handed the Bulls an advantage.
He revealed it’s going to take a little more time for his charges to accumulate that type of experience.
“It’s obviously difficult to speed up learning with 205 caps – I think that was the Bulls caps today. Bok caps was about 205,” Van Rooyen said after the defeat.
“Bringing Willie off the bench, you see the big difference he made, Canan [Moodie] made a big difference.”
The coach added: “You can’t buy experience immediately.
“So we have to stick to what we want to and make sure everybody aligned with what we want to do.”
The loss means the Lions are almost certainly out of the play-off run – sitting well outside the top 10.
“Obviously a little disappointing,” Van Rooyen said.
“At one stage in the second half, we felt we managed to turn the momentum.
“We scored, we were ahead, but then frustrating errors from our side – two kick-offs… I think we stopped for a moment when we thought the ball was going to go out directly, and they tapped it in and that almost put us under pressure to try and play a little bit differently.
“We were good enough for some stages, but it’s not 85 [minutes] yet.”
Hectic month
The Lions are now on a two-week break before they embark on a strenuous month which sees them take on Stormers (February 15), Bulls (February 22) and Sharks (March 1).
“The next two weeks are vital.
“Getting bodies recovered and rested, keep on developing our game model.
“Get guys sharp and get them ready. It is definitely the toughest month of the competition with playing against South Africa teams.
“It is important to be sharp and rested well.”
