Lions bank valuable away URC points and confidence before Jukskei derby at Ellis Park

The Lions will return from their two-week overseas trip unbeaten after another draw, this time in the United Rugby Championship (URC) against the Ospreys in Wales late on Friday evening.

Following a roaring fightback in atrocious weather conditions, the visitors salvaged three points from the match. While they will be satisfied with the 24-all outcome in Swansea, there might be a lingering feeling that they could’ve won it.

In the end, some strong defence in the dying minutes of the game prevented the home side from scoring a winner, while a last-gasp try attempt by winger Angelo Davids was left unconverted to force the draw.

That dogged defence, though, will give the Lions plenty of confidence when they return to Johannesburg ahead of a crucial return Jukskei derby against the Bulls this coming Saturday at Ellis Park. It will be an opportunity to showcase the fight in front of their home fans as they push to stay in the top half of the competition.

Having trailed 17-12 at halftime after a fight to score four minutes into stoppage time of the first half, and with the wind in their sails in the second forty, the Lions should’ve sealed the game.

However, their discipline and defence let them down at crucial stages, and those are two areas they must tighten up going forward. Yellow cards to prop SJ Kotze and lock Etienne Oosthuizen put them under massive pressure in stages of the clash that they could not afford.

The Oosthuizen one towards the end of the second half allowed the Ospreys to gain the upper hand; however, thanks to the gust behind them and a defensive system that made up for its first-half errors, the Lions stayed in the fight.

Looking at how they dominated the opening exchanges when playing into the gust – they had the home side under the pump in the first 15 minutes – the Lions should probably have capitalised on that passage of play. They cracked the Welsch club in the scrums brilliantly, while their strong carries via the forwards set the base for the power game.

But their error rate was just too high, and failing to take advantage of the good opening eventually came back to bite them when the Ospreys answered with three tries in 15 minutes to win the battle in the first 40 minutes. That lead at halftime was the undoing of the visitors.

The Lions will remain in the top eight on the URC log thanks to the three points collected on the road, and head coach Ivan van Rooyen can be proud of how they kept an unbeaten run away from home. However, they must start sealing these crucial matches if they want to make the playoffs later in the season.

They have a host of games at Ellis Park over the next rounds and will bank on this momentum to drive their URC campaign over the next couple of months.

Points scorers

Lions 24 (12): Tries: Francke Horn (2), PJ Botha, Quan Horn. Conversions: Chris Smith (2). Ospreys 24 (17): Tries: James Ratti, Iestyn Hopkins, Morgan Morse, Dan Kasende. Conversions: Dan Edwards (2).