Concerns about their own inability to get over the line and an injury to prop Morgan Naude will take up most of the attention of the Emirates Lions as they move to Wales to face Scarlets this weekend.
The Emirates Lions head to Llanelli for their upcoming Vodacom URC match against Scarlets this Saturday.
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Naude left the field early on and there hasn’t been clarity on his shoulder injury, which seems to be an AC joint injury and could keep him out of the game for up to 12 weeks, depending on the seriousness of the knock that is diagnosed.
But more worrying for the Lions is their own inability to capitalise on their setpiece dominance and general play to get over the line, with three defeats in as many games leaving them third from bottom with four points and no wins.
The Lions did well generally to stay in the fight and the stats show that they had more than enough ball, but crucial errors at critical times cost them against the Italian side Benetton, who have been a revelation this season.
Yet it was the breakdown battle that ultimately cost them as they weren’t able to convert when they got into Benetton’s 22 metre area and lost 15 turnovers during the game, which became their Achilles heel.
“I think they probably won the breakdown battle. At crucial times, especially in the opposition 22 when we were close to their try-line, either it was individual error or they turned the ball over,” coach Ivan van Rooyen said afterwards.
“In the first half, we probably spent enough time there to walk away with a couple of points and we didn’t manage to do that.
“Good fight for the guys to come back and score the try but in the end, we didn’t play good enough making crucial errors at crucial times which allowed them to spend the last three, four minutes in our half.”
Unfortunately this has been the mantra for the Lions for the past few seasons, and while they certainly have some rising stars in their team, they seem to be missing that little extra that is needed to get them over the line in close games, and it is ultimately the difference between the good and great sides in the URC.
Scarlets are their next opposition and will be on a high after defeating Cardiff 31-25 in their derby last weekend.
With a shorter turnaround between games it will certainly test the Lions ability as they move into the third game of their four game tour.