A final score of 24-6 may look like the Lions are not genuine title contenders, but they showed more than enough against Leinster to dispel that notion.
The result appears to be a comfortable victory for Leinster, but it was far from a true reflection of the game as the Lions had their moments in Dublin on Saturday night and could easily have walked away with a victory.
The intimidating crowd at Aviva Stadium were silenced for large periods by the Lions’ tenacity up-front, as they stayed in the game at 10-6 until the 58th minute, when Leinster No 8 Caelan Doris scored following a five-metre tap penalty.
Leinster finally breach the Emirates Lions' defence in the second half 🔵💣
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RG doing RG things 😎#BKTURC #URC | #LEIvLIO pic.twitter.com/UA5HcA4nn2
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The Johannesburg side climbed in physically, making good metres with strong carries from the likes of No 8 and captain Francke Horn, tighthead prop Asenathi Ntlabakanye and lock Ruben Schoeman – who made a game-high 17 tackles too – as they kept forcing Leinster to defend, with even Springbok star RG Snyman kept relatively quiet. But it was almost as if they baked the cake, but weren’t able to add the chocolate ganache to it.
Their kicking game was commendable, with half-backs Morné van den Berg and Kade Wolhuter mixing it up well between contestables and looking for territory. When they got into the red zone, though, a knock-on here or wrong option there stymied their progress, while they also missed touch from penalties, booted kick-offs into touch and failing to convert attacking line-outs into points.
As much as former Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber’s trademark rush defence employed by Leinster disrupted the Lions in that regard, the visitors are a better attacking team than what they displayed on the night, even though the rain started falling at half-time.
Losing star fullback Quan Horn as early as the 11th minute to concussion was a enormous blow too, as he provides that extra spark with ball-in-hand and a massive left boot.
There's fight in this Emirates @LionsRugbyCo side 💪#LEIvLIO | @Vodacom #URC | #VodacomTurns30 pic.twitter.com/ilAdOXTCgM
— vodacomrugby (@VodacomRugga) October 26, 2024
“Work-rate, character... that was all good, that was all fine. The guys really got stuck (in) out there. Accuracy a little bit lacking from our side. We had created one or two opportunities that we couldn’t capitalise on, one or two exits that kept us under pressure,” Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen said afterwards.
“So, we probably lost the small battles tonight, and not the big ones. Our general work-rate did put them under pressure. To be honest, we also got lucky once or twice, where they were knocking the ball on 10 metres from the tryline.
“But like I said, we also created enough to put them under pressure, and created enough opportunities to also score a try or two.
“But I would like to look at how we can, instead of stopping, how we can get points. Just too many errors to put them under consistent pressure...
“Jacques Nienaber was sitting and talking to the coaches now, and with the way they want to play – they want to suffocate you and put your skill-set under pressure – if you make early errors, they can capitalise.”
At the top of the leaderboard, it’s Leinster - the only unbeaten team!🔥
— BKT United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial) October 27, 2024
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Defeat, but not defeated. A courageous Emirates @LionsRugbyCo performance in tough conditions 🦁#LEIvLIO | @Vodacom #URC | #VodacomTurns30 pic.twitter.com/7NuirzbXbv
— vodacomrugby (@VodacomRugga) October 26, 2024
But while they have lost the Leinster battle, the war that is the marathon United Rugby Championship campaign can still be won as the Lions go into a welcome four-week break after a lengthy Currie Cup season – where they reached the final – and four victories in five URC matches.
They are fourth on the log with 18 points, and have time to lick their wounds and come back rejuvenated – with none of their players involved in the upcoming Springbok tour – for their next encounter against Munster at Thomond Park in Limerick at the end of next month.