Lions capitulation: Francke Horn and Ivan van Rooyen 'shell-shocked' by Bulls rout

Lions captain Francke Horn and coach Ivan van Rooyen were shell-shocked after the Lions’ 52–17 capitulation to the Bulls at Ellis Park on Saturday.

Few saw the result coming, certainly not the Lions after they had fought hard for two draws on their recent overseas tour. With a forward pack in good form and Chris Smit directing play well from fly-half, they were expected to be a team on the up.

“Every player needs to take accountability for their job,” a dazed Horn said. “I think we lost five or six line-outs, and we probably didn’t get more than one or two phases, especially in the second half.”

Horn said he was frustrated because the Lions have the capability; they simply never responded to the Bulls’ emphatic start.

“You saw the last try we scored by Bronson (Mills); we kept the ball for five phases and we scored easily. That’s a big frustration,” Horn said.

“Players need to take accountability for what we did out there. It’s a team sport, but an individual must also do his part.”

Interestingly, both the Bulls and Lions had travelled back from two-match tours overseas, but it was the Bulls who were energised while the Lions looked as though they had concrete boots. The difference between the sides lay in their contrasting attitudes.

“There was nothing coach Ivan van Rooyen said or did in the week’s prep that led us to perform like that,” Horn insisted.

“But definitely the pressure and the slow start got to us. It was just not a good performance.

"Mistakes and losing lineouts put you under pressure and then you’re on the back foot every single time. We need to sharpen up on that.”

Van Rooyen, sitting alongside Horn in the press conference, was candid about the dip in performance.

“We were sloppy,” he said.

“Especially in that first half, I don’t think we managed to get the ball through two phases. If you’re just sloppy, you can’t build continuity.

"You make an error, they get the ball, and then you concede momentum. When you allow big guys like the Bulls momentum, they run at you.”

Van Rooyen said he had seen no warning signs during the week.

“We were happy with the prep, with the pictures, and with how we wanted to play. Just on the day, the execution was not accurate enough. The more we tried to manufacture something, the more errors we made, and the Bulls just punished us.”

The Lions have dropped out of the URC top eight to 10th place, but they have a run of six home games in which to redeem themselves.

“All of the guys in the changing room are proud men, and we’ll take this loss at home quite hard,” Horn said. “We have a week off now to switch off and then, when we come back, we will look at what we did not do and how we can rectify it.”