Lions’ runaway win over Leinster achieved on the back of big tackles

The Lions may have racked up more than 40 points against high-fliers Leinster but it was their effort on defence that most pleased head coach Ivan van Rooyen at Ellis Park on Saturday.

The Lions made a fast start, leading 22-0 after just a quarter of an hour, but it was their stout defence that denied the visitors who deployed a second string team in a chastening 44-12 defeat.

“What I am proudest about is the fight in defence, the character in defence,” said Van Rooyen. “The willingness to keep them out. It is probably our best character fight of the season,” he said about the win that saw flank Emmanuel Tshituka tower above the rest. 

“To have counterattack and finish off is obviously delightful.”

Though there was much to crow about in the way the Lions' exposed Leinster from deep, it was their effort without the ball that drew plaudits.

Perhaps the defining moment, or passage, arrived just before the break when sustained Leinster pressure was met by unremitting Lions' defence. The hosts held their defensive lines under their poles to keep Leinster scoreless in the first half.

Leinster head coach Leo Cullen lamented his team's lack of accuracy when opportunity beckoned.

Captain Marius Louw who made his presence felt in the tackle and on the deck, explained why the Lions successfully shut down Leinster's attack. “We knew that if we were going to dominate tackles there would be opportunities. We focused more on counter rucking after we've made a positive hit. We had a big focus on second efforts at the breakdown.”

The Lions also showed their claws in the scrum with props Morgan Naude and Ruan Dreyer turning over the turf.

“He is the perfect picture of the modern prop, especially at loose head,” said Van Rooyen about Naude. “He was unlucky with a couple of injuries that hindered that spurt that you expected in him coming through. But he's had eight, nine games in a row where he is getting good minutes and doing well. It is nice to see someone who has been in the wilderness with three injuries getting that flow going. He was really good.”

It is however his team's effort on defence that Van Rooyen would want to bottle and use in upcoming battles. He explained the correlation between the Lions maintaining their defensive lines and feeling the heat in the context of the competition.

“We are with our backs to the wall in terms of must-win games. It goes hand-in-hand with that. Every time we have been with our backs to the wall we've done that. The trick is to reproduce that next week against Munster.”

Louw was cautious not to get too carried away by the result. “Giving Leinster a 40-pointer is a confidence booster but it will lift Munster as well,” he said about next weekend's clash.