‘Glasgow’s attacking master class too good for us,’ says Lions coach

Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen bemoaned gale force wind conditions that saw gusts of up to 70km per hour, and an attacking masterclass from hosts Glasgow Warriors, for his team’s 42-0 United Rugby Championship (URC) defeat over the past weekend.

The hosts utilised the wind to their advantage in a ruthless first half performance that saw them run in all six converted tries for a huge lead at the break.

The Lions were then unable to use that same wind in a possibly even more disappointing second half performance, where they were unable to pick up a single point, while Glasgow still looked the more threatening team thanks to a number of stunning breaks, stopped by some desperate defence.

Speaking about the game, Van Rooyen claimed that it was the best attacking performance they had come up against this season, and that adaptability was again a problem, as it was in going down 20-17 against Cardiff a week earlier, in a match they should have won.

“Glasgow’s attack is the best we have faced this season. They put on an attacking master class that we couldn’t deal with,” said Van Rooyen.

“These were the most difficult conditions we have ever played or trained in. At some points the wind was over 50 miles per hour. We couldn’t adapt and use it to our advantage while they used it well in the first half.

“We weren’t accurate enough on defence and didn’t adapt quickly enough. When you give them the ball for free, they are really good at keeping it and will punish you. They outplayed us.”

Poor URC tour

It thus ended a poor URC tour to the UK that leaves the Lions languishing in 14^th on the log and with four home pool stage games to come to try and claw their way back up the log and hopefully into the top eight and a place in the playoffs.

However, before that comes the major matter of an EPCR Challenge Cup last 16 encounter with Scottish side Edinburgh on Friday night.

The Lions will be grateful that they only had a short 76km ride from Glasgow to Edinburgh, so despite a shortened training week they should be fresh and ready for the clash against the hosts.

But they are up against a team that will be confident, after finishing top of their EPCR pool, winning three of their four matches, and coming into the game off the back of a strong 38-5 URC win over Dragons over the past weekend.

It will be interesting to see how the Lions approach the match, as with their URC top eight challenge in dire straits, the question will be if they will back a full strength team to go all out against Edinburgh, or if they decide to rest their starters with an eye on the URC resumption in a few weeks.