×

We've got news for you.

Register on SowetanLIVE at no cost to receive newsletters, read exclusive articles & more.
Register now

Limping Lions pipped to the post in last minutes

Juan de Jongh of the Stormers gets tackled during the Super Rugby match against the Lions at Ellis Park on Saturday. PHOTO: DUIF DU TOIT/GALLO IMAGES
Juan de Jongh of the Stormers gets tackled during the Super Rugby match against the Lions at Ellis Park on Saturday. PHOTO: DUIF DU TOIT/GALLO IMAGES

Lions coach Johan Ackermann could not explain why his team lost a match they looked to win with less than five minutes left of their 22-19 defeat to the Stormers on Saturday.

The post-match media area at Ellis Park had the awkward feel of witnessing people throwing a wild party while their neighbours held a funeral service, made so by the contrast between Ackermann's scowl and Allister Coetzee's smile.

Ackermann had planned everything down to the last molecule. He picked the right XV - young inside centre Herold Vorster was ably assisted flyhalf Elton Jantjies and Sampie Mastriet provided better defence than Courtnall Skosan on the wing - but it still wasn't enough.

The game plan was perfect, too: lock them outside the gates with brave defending and stop them from climbing over the fence by disrupting their breakdown and halting their continuity. Jantjies' boot applied the necessary scoreboard pressure, while Franco Mostert delighted in spoiling a number of Stormers lineouts.

All of it worked for 76 minutes.

Extraordinarily and heart-wrenchingly for the Lions fans, two knock-ons by substitute Howard Mnisi during the frantic period after the fulltime hooter had sounded confirmed the defeat.

"My personal view is that the best team didn't win," said Ackermann.

"We must look to fix our discipline and avoid giving sides easy points.

"At the end of the day we will never know why things like these happen."

Coetzee, who watched with joy as his side escaped from Alcatraz with a late Siya Kolisi try from a lineout drive, was perplexed by his opponents' decision-making.

"I wouldn't necessarily agree [with Ackermann] about which was the better team," Coetzee said.

"The better team is always the one that plays the big points well. We had one lineout that mattered and we made it count and Kurt [Coleman] converted the try, which was also important."

 

Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.

Speech Bubbles

Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.