Van Rooyen laments missed chances after Lions fall short against Benetton

Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen was left ruing missed opportunities after his side’s United Rugby Championship loss to Benetton in Treviso, saying the result did not reflect the team’s effort or physical dominance.

The South Africans were competitive for large periods of the match but were punished for costly handling mistakes and botched lineouts close to the try line, allowing the Italian outfit to claim a 41-15 win on home soil.

“I think it was a game of huge missed opportunities from our side,” Van Rooyen said after the match. “A lot of the phases in the game we felt we were dominant – physically dominant – but we just couldn’t convert it all.”

Van Rooyen pointed to two tries that came directly from Lions errors, turning promising attacking positions into Benetton scores from long range.

“Two of their tries came directly from a skill error from our side and they ran 70 or 80m to score,” he said.

“We also missed two crucial lineouts five metres out from their try line. So, I think in attack we managed to put them under a lot more pressure, but unfortunately too many errors gave them the ball back.”

Despite the loss, the Lions coach felt there were positives to take from the performance, particularly in terms of their attacking cohesion and set-piece play.

“The connection between the forwards and the backs was better this week,” he said.

“We looked a little more threatening on attack than we did against Cardiff. Our set piece was also a little more consistent than against Zebre.”

However, defensive lapses and individual decision-making errors continued to cost the Joburg team at crucial stages.

“Defensively, too many individual errors crept in,” Van Rooyen admitted.

“Some sets and phases we really looked good and dominated them, and then through an individual error or decision-making error they get momentum, and suddenly you’re paddling on the back foot and under pressure.”

The Lions had a spell of momentum in the final quarter and Van Rooyen believes they were close to turning the game around before two yellow cards derailed their late push.

“With about 15 minutes to go, if we could just convert one or two of the chances, we might have put them under big pressure,” said Van Rooyen.

“We got the momentum then, but unfortunately we also conceded two yellow cards in those last 10 minutes, and that almost let the game run loose.”

The Lions return home from their mini-European tour winless, with a single bonus point to show for their efforts. They will face fellow strugglers the Scarlets and high-flying Ulster in back-to-back matches Van Rooyen believes will be crucial to reigniting their faltering campaign.

“It’s really important for us to get two results to keep believing and keep challenging the way we want to play,” he said.