Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen feels his team are “still alive”, but has urged his players to be more ruthless on attack if they hope to make the United Rugby Championship play-offs.
The Johannesburg side had to wait until the 79th minute to grab their bonus-point try in the 34-13 victory over Cardiff at Ellis Park on Saturday night.
The URC quarter-final race is as tight as it can get, with the Lions 10th on 44 points, Connacht on the same tally but in ninth due to having won one more game, and Benetton eighth on 48 after they beat the Sharks 25-24 in Durban on Saturday. Edinburgh are seventh on 48, Ulster sixth on 49 and Stormers fifth on 50, with the top four seeing Glasgow leading, followed by Leinster, Munster and the Bulls.
The Lions were quick out of the blocks to register 14 points in 18 minutes against Cardiff through tries by Ruan Venter and Quan Horn, but they chose to have a shot at goal with a few penalties after that instead of kicking for touch and setting up line-outs.
Quick thinking ⚡️
— BKT United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial) May 11, 2024
Emirates @LionsRugbyCo turn a defensive situation into 7 points with this try 👀#BKTURC #URC | #LIOvCAR pic.twitter.com/AgXpTDgja2
The Welsh club fought back to make it 20-13 ahead of the final quarter, but then replacement flank Emmanuel Tshituka grabbed two tries in the last six minutes to secure the bonus point.
“Still alive! We know it’s probably going to be tough for us, looking at the other results as well. We don’t want to drop the ball and read too much into the other results,” Van Rooyen said.
“We knew that we needed probably 11 points out of the last three games, so yes, there is a lot of work and stuff to be fixed – but that’s five points, and we’re alive and breathing...
“It’s probably a little bit of accuracy from our side. It was us not really being that clinical first-up, allowing them to get a turnover or a penalty against us.
“I don’t think it (kicking for poles) necessarily gave Cardiff more self-confidence. If we had been more accurate at first or second phase, it might have been a totally different situation. Still happy with the five points, but we could definitely have been more clinical.”
The Lions will welcome log leaders Glasgow to Ellis Park on Saturday, and after the Scottish side gave the Bulls a massive fright with their late second-half comeback in the 40-34 defeat at Loftus Versfeld, the Johannesburg outfit must be wary of relying on altitude to tire out European teams.
The Emirates Lions wrap it up in style 🔥
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) May 11, 2024
Emmanuel Tshituka scores the bonus-point try right at the end 🤩👇#LIOvCAR | #UnitedWeRise pic.twitter.com/duK1hSlA1Q
They will also hope that wing Richard Kriel, who went off early in the first half with a hamstring injury, can recover in time.
“We create chances, but we need to be clinical in the first two or three phases to put real pressure on the opposition. We need to sharpen up our set-pieces as well,” Van Rooyen said.
“We saw what Glasgow could do against the Bulls – how they came back. Proud team, top of the URC log, so we know it’s going to take a really good effort from our side.”