Captain Francke Horn was full of praise for the Lions' defensive grit after making nearly 200 tackles to sink Connacht. Photo: Backpagepix
Image: Backpagepix
Captain Francke Horn hailed a staunch defensive effort on Saturday night after the Lions withstood the relentless probing of Connacht in their United Rugby Championship (URC) clash at Ellis Park.
Arguably one of the most improved aspects of the current Lions setup has been their defensive work rate, and that new confidence has certainly oozed into other areas of their game. On Saturday, they made nearly 200 tackles with a 91% success rate. It effectively locked out Connacht for long periods of the encounter for an important 33-21 victory.
The visitors enjoyed the majority of possession during the match and threatened the Lions’ try line on several occasions. However, committed defence and big hits not only kept them at bay but at times also drove them back smartly.
The Lions bided their time during these periods and were — for the most part — ruthless on attack. In all, they let slip three tries: one in the 48th minute and two more in the final 10 minutes with the game arguably already won.
Horn was, therefore, mostly pleased with the effort, even though he did express a bit of regret for the late lapse in concentration during the closing stages of the clash.
Said Horn: “They are a good team, especially on attack.
"We knew we were going to have to defend multi-phases, so it was a great step up from a defensive point of view. I think there was a stage on our try line where we defended for three or four minutes and managed to keep them scoreless. The two tries against us at the end left a bit of a sour taste in the mouth.
“It is good to win, win five points and stay alive. There is stuff for us to work on for the tour.”
The Lions finished third on the URC log after this past week’s action with 52 points. They are within touching distance of securing their first quarter-final berth of the tournament, with their fate squarely in their hands.
As mentioned by Horn, a tough tour awaits which includes matches against Leinster in a fortnight and Munster a week thereafter in Ireland. Should they secure at least two points from those encounters, they should qualify for the quarter-finals, with Connacht the only team now outside the top eight who could potentially spoil their reward.