Lions let All Blacks escape after 68-minute battle at Ellis Park

Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen believes his side came close to producing a major upset against the All Blacks after matching New Zealand for 68 minutes in their Greatest Rivalry series encounter at Ellis Park on Tuesday.

The Johannesburg-based team led for significant periods and remained in contention deep into the contest, but New Zealand finished strongly to secure a 41-35 victory.

Van Rooyen was proud of the Lions’ performance, although he admitted they had allowed a possible win to slip away during the closing stages. The result offered encouragement ahead of the new United Rugby Championship season, but also highlighted areas that require attention during the final weeks of preparation.

“For 68 minutes we matched them with our repeated efforts. Hopefully we can fix those last 12 minutes over the next few weeks.”

“Once we got tired, they got around us pretty easily. There’s definitely work to do.”

The Lions were under pressure as the match entered its final quarter. Their replacements did not provide the impact Van Rooyen had hoped for, while New Zealand gradually took control of the set piece.

The All Blacks had initially struggled in the scrum, but began to dominate that area as the Lions’ energy levels dropped. That shift helped the visitors close out a closely fought match in which the home side had performed with considerable resilience.

Despite the defeat, Van Rooyen said the attitude shown by his players afterwards was one of the most encouraging aspects of the evening.

“To be in the fight for 77 minutes is a proud moment. What I liked most was the feeling in the change room,” he said.

“We felt we let it slip.”

The Lions’ display included several notable individual performances, with Chris Smith named as KickOff Rugby’s man of the match. Player ratings also identified Smith and Mahashe as the leading performers against New Zealand.

However, Van Rooyen’s attention has already turned to the demanding schedule that lies ahead. The Lions will use the coming weeks to recover and continue their preparations for the United Rugby Championship campaign.

The squad will have two intensive weeks of training before facing the Sharks in a warm-up match. That will be followed by another major test against Leinster.

“The boys will recover this week, then we’ve got two tough weeks of prep, a warm-up against the Sharks and then Leinster,” he noted.

“It’s a sprint before the marathon.”