The Lions are a good side. Unfortunately, their supporters need to keep reminding themselves of that fact every time the Johannesburg outfit ventures beyond the comforts of Ellis Park. Because when they travel, the wheels have a nasty habit of coming off, and Friday night’s 29-20 defeat to Franco Smith’s Glasgow Warriors at Scotstoun was the latest instalment in a dispiriting pattern.
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If Ivan van Rooyen’s charges harbour genuine ambitions of going deep in the United Rugby Championship, they’re going to have to crack the away-day riddle. You simply cannot be a serious contender whilst repeatedly stumbling on the road, and the Lions’ current form away from home suggests they’re miles away from figuring it out.
To rub salt into already weeping wounds, Scottish scrumhalf George Horne twisted the knife with a penalty conversion after the final whistle had blown, denying the Lions even a losing bonus point. It was a gut-wrenching finale to another frustrating evening in Scotland, where the Lions once again flattered to deceive before ultimately falling short.
Lineout woes addressed, sort of
Van Rooyen had pinpointed the lineout as a critical area requiring improvement following last week’s Edinburgh debacle, and to be fair, Friday showed progress.
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“The lineout was difficult. The conditions were wet, cold and slightly windy,” Van Rooyen had said after the Edinburgh loss. “Some of it was about timing, others about accuracy, and without lineout possession you’re going to struggle to get your attack going, build momentum and put pressure on the opposition. It’s clearly an aspect that didn’t work well enough.”
The stats tell a story. Last week, with Tiaan Lange not featuring, the Lions secured just 11 of their 17 lineouts, a dismal return that strangled their attacking ambitions. Friday night, with Lange restored to the starting hooker berth, they won 15 of 17 lineouts he threw into. That’s a dramatic improvement and a testament to the 23-year-old’s quality.
Lange shines in defeat
Which brings us neatly to our player of the match: hooker Tiaan Lange.
Beyond his lineout mastery, Lange was immense across the park. He competed ferociously at breakdowns, put in some thumping tackles on Glasgow’s forwards and carried strongly with ball in hand. In a performance littered with individual errors and collective lapses, Lange stood tall as one of the few Lions who can genuinely say they left everything on the Scotstoun turf.
His set-piece excellence gave the Lions a platform they lacked in Edinburgh. The problem is platforms mean nothing if you can’t capitalise, and the Lions repeatedly squandered opportunities that better sides would have converted into points.
The away-day curse
The harsh reality is this: the Lions are Jekyll and Hyde depending on postcode. At Ellis Park, they’re fearsome, aggressive and capable of dismantling anyone. On the road, they’re tentative, error-prone and lacking the composure required to close out tight matches.
Glasgow weren’t exceptional on Friday. They were solid, disciplined and clinical when chances arose, qualities the Lions desperately lack when playing away from home. Franco Smith, who knows South African rugby intimately, will have relished this victory.
For Van Rooyen, the challenge is clear: find a way to replicate Ellis Park performances on hostile soil, or accept the Lions will remain perennial nearly-men in the URC. You don’t win championships by dominating at home and capitulating on tour. You need to be able to win ugly in unfamiliar surroundings, grind out results when conditions aren’t perfect, and show the mental fortitude to close out tight contests.
Right now, the Lions possess none of those qualities when they travel.
Horne’s post-hooter penalty was the perfect metaphor for the Lions’ tour, painful, frustrating and entirely avoidable. The lineout improved thanks to Lange’s excellence, but everything else remained stubbornly familiar.
Until the Lions learn to win away from Ellis Park, they’ll remain a good side going nowhere fast.
