Dragon-slaying Lions laud mix between kicking and attacking game

Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen alluded to the fact that the X-factor that had been missing from much of the Lions’ season thus far was finally evident in Saturday’s 60-10 Challenge Cup demolition of the Dragons at Ellis Park.

The Joburg side roared into the round of 16 with the win over the Welsh visitors who were level on five points with the Lions in their pool before the mauling.

The free-flowing performance at home went a long way to erasing memories of last week’s painful trip to France to face group leaders Montpellier, and of a pool stage that had delivered one win in the first three matches.

“Obviously, we were disappointed by the way we played last weekend,” Van Rooyen said at the post-match media conference.

“There was actually an opportunity for us to play the way we wanted to last weekend but we didn’t manage to get there.

“(It was) definitely more of the kind of game that we wanted to play – get the ball in a little space and give the ball to X-factor people and with open air, we feel we can threaten you there.

“The mix between the kicking game and attacking game was a lot better this week. So (it was) definitely more of a performance that we can say we want to put our stamp onto.”

Those X-factor players Van Rooyen alluded to definitely included star centre Henco van Wyk and Springbok flank Ruan Venter, who made a huge impact on their return to the side for the must-win clash.

Venter scored two of his team’s nine tries, while captain Francke Horn got in on the act with two of his own in another powerful display.

Morne van den Berg kept the side ticking over from scrumhalf.

Player-of-the-match Rynhardt Jonker was pulling strings in midfield, while young flyhalf Sam Francis only served to enhance his burgeoning reputation with the boot and ball in hand.

The Lions pack feasted on the opposition at scrum time, forcing a number of penalties, and were menacing on the drive and in the loose.

Relentless pressure on the Dragons line-out resulted in skewed throw-ins, while they often coughed up possession in the tackle in the face of a foe that refused to wilt in the highveld heat.

With their place in the Challenge Cup play-offs secured, the Lions can now turn their attention to the visit of the Bulls in Saturday’s United Rugby Championship encounter.

The neighbours will also be buoyed by their 48-7 home win over Stade Francais in their last Champions Cup group game to qualify for the Challenge Cup play-offs.

Coach Van Rooyen will be hoping his X-factor players will once again stamp their mark on proceedings.