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June 4 - A lapse of focus on defence just before and after halftime cost the MTN Lions dearly as they went down 38-27 to the Hurricanes in Wellington on Saturday.
The Lions were deservedly up 20-8 two minutes before the break. Then poor defence on the one hand and two blatant forward passes by the home side that were missed by the match officials combined to cost the Lions ten points. In a close match like this one, the swing in the momentum was huge and undoubtedly contributed to the Lions’ sudden slump.
Two further tries that can be put down to poor defence helped the Hurricanes to turn over a 20-8 deficit into a 38-20 lead. The 30 unanswered points in 25 minutes took the match out of the Lions reach.
The visitors came back, however, and scored their third try six minutes before fulltime. They were pushing hard for a fourth try that would’ve given them two bonus points when a handling lapse cost them after a good sequence of patient phase possession.
It was again little mistakes that cost the Lions. They had 60 per cent of the territory as well as of the possession. They made only 61 tackles while the Hurricanes had to tackle just about double that with 117 successful tackles to repel the Lions attacks.
But on the other hand the Lions missed more than their share of tackles and handled poorly when it mattered.
It was nevertheless another match where the growth of the Lions team was noticeable. While both teams lacked accuracy for the most part, the Lions shadowed the hosts in the forward exchanges and at set piece time. They had the better of the lineouts and were at times impressive in the scrums, despite giving away a big weight advantage to the home forwards.
The return to form – and kicking form – of Elton Jantjies was again evident. Although he made mistakes which can largely be out down to inexperience, his overall game again showed his great promise.
** “We knocked off just before halftime,” Lions captain Doppies la Grange lamented after the match. “We let them in for three easy tries then and just after the break.”
La Grange said he believed his side had a good chance of winning the match in an impressive first half. “We were in there. We were a little unlucky not to win, but have only ourselves to blame.”
Scorers:
Hurricanes: Tries: Aaron Cruden, Hosea Gear (2), Ma`a Nonu. Conversions: Cruden (3). Penalties: Cruden (4).
MTN Lions: Tries: Jaco Taute (2), Doppies la Grange. Conversions: Elton Jantjies (2), Butch James. Penalties: Jantjies (2).
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