The Fidelity Securedrive Lions were brave and gutsy, but it wasn’t enough to keep them in the hunt for a top four spot in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship as they went down tamely 31-7 to Leinster in Dublin on Saturday.
Three late tries by Leinster made the scoreline look a lot less respectable than it should have been but in essence the Lions were never good enough to win a fixture that was a massive test of how far they have come as a team.
To win in Dublin is no easy feat. The 50-50 calls often go against the visitors and you need stern resolve, guts and bravery, and a dollop of luck thrown in to be in the fight. The Lions had most of that, but lacked the luck of the Irish, so to speak, as they had to contend with two horrible calls from the officials, and then were blown away in the final minutes when it seemed they had simply given up.
It’s hard to fault them given the season they have had. The fight they put in, in the face of a disallowed try and then a try for Leinster that will be debated for a long to come, was certainly admirable.
ATTACK WAS ACHILLES HEEL
But to win in Dublin against the defending champions, they needed to be a lot better, especially on attack, than they were.
The result is that the Lions’ chances of a top four place are now very much hanging on a slim thread. Depending on the Munster-Connacht result late on Saturday, they could still be in danger of missing out on the top eight altogether.
As weird as that seems, a win for Connacht means they can - at least technically miss out on the top eight - which is mind-boggling and underlines how close the log actually is.
The chances of that happening are admittedly slim, but Leinster’s win moves them into third spot and with Ospreys as their final opponent, they are unlikely to move out of the top four.
That means the Lions, who dropped to fifth after the game, will have their showdown with Munster next week to determine where they end. That result will also have a massive bearing on the Vodacom Bulls’ fortunes as well for the playoffs.
But back to the Dublin game, where Leinster’s luck was on full display after only two minutes as they scored early through a lucky bounce. A pass on attack from Andrew Osborne to his brother Jimmy found the latter’s knee, bounced forward and was kicked ahead, only to find no defenders for an easy try that came off nothing. The game wasn’t even 90 seconds old and the Lions were behind their tryline.
DOUBLE BLOW AS DECISIONS BITE
The Lions fought hard, and then disaster struck. What seemed to be one of the tries of their season - crafted when Erich Cronje was said to be onside by the referee Holly Davidson and tackled Luke McGrath, causing him to spill the ball. Siba Mahashe, who is growing in stature with every game, snatched it up, ran 60 metres down the sideline before sending Sam Prendergast flying with the easiest of offloads, to score.
The try was being celebrated when the television match official piped up, claiming that Cronje was part of the ruck and therefore offside. Several minutes of replays followed, and to the astonishment of even the Irish commentators, Davidson agreed with him, chalking off the try.
What was, in the end, a technical infringement, cost the Lions a try that should have been. And if we are going to be that pedantic, considering every ruck could have at least three infringements, then standing around for five minutes trying to find a technical infringement means quite simply that it is not clear and obvious.
It was a hammer blow for the Lions. A massive one. And it was compounded by the penalty from the ruck that saw Leinster set up an attack close to the line.
Tom Clarkson went over from close range, and Davidson gave the try, saying he grounded it on the line. But television replays showed something different, no clear grounding and Clarkson was surprised at the awarding of the try. In fact, he had turned to recycle the ball, a clear indicator that he had not scored.
A separate replay seemed to show that he had placed it on a Lions’ defender’s arm, but Davidson didn’t check and the TMO intervened.
The Lions had to accept their fate and it was not one, but two blows, and a 14-point swing. What should have been 7-all was now 14-0 and Leinster were smiling.
FOUGHT HARD
To the Lions’ credit, they fought hard to come back from that, and got some reward when the slippery captain Francke Horn weaved his way out of a tackle just before halftime to surge over the line and score.
The Lions defence came to the fore late in the first and early in the second half when they stopped several attacks from Leinster. Brave, stern defence that wouldn’t be passed. Leinster were being frustrated and couldn’t get further ahead.
But while the earlier decisions were a blow to the Lions, what transpired next was really what cost them the game.
Several incursions into the 22 resulted in nothing. The Lions lack of accuracy on attack, lost lineout throws, an interception on the Leinster tryline and other handling errors compounded their fate. If you aren’t going to take your chances, the old saying goes, then the other side will take them for you.
That, combined with losing the aerial battle - at one stage their attack consisted of peppering the Leinster defence with high balls in their 22. The Lions didn’t win one ball back and provided Leinster with easy exits.
And when Leinster got the chance, they struck. They had worn the Lions’ down so much that they looked lethargic in the final minutes on defence. It was hard to blame them, but it was also a familiar story of teams playing in Dublin.
REALITY CHECK
Hugo Keenan in the 70th minute, Rieko Ioane in the 74th and Tommy O’Brien in the 80th made the scoreline look one-sided. It wasn’t close to that, but it was also a reminder that no matter how far this Lions team has come, they aren’t quite in this league yet.
They will now limp to Limerick knowing it’s do or die against Munster. A win in Limerick and they can still claim a top four place - although they may have surrendered that right already. A loss and they may have to face one of the top three sides away from home in the playoffs.
Either way, the result stopped a six game winning streak and was a reality check for the Lions. One that they will hopefully learn from.
SCORERS
Leinster - tries: Jamie Osborne, Tom Clarkson, Hugo Keenan, Rieko Ioane, Tommy O’Brien. Conversions: Sam Prendergast (2), Ciaran Frawley.
Fidelity Securedrive Lions - try: Francke Horn. Conversion: Chris Smith.