The Emirates Lions greatest enemy - inconsistency - creeped in as they produced a poor performance under pressure to go down 36-21 against the Ospreys in Swansea on Saturday.
After their incredible 14-man, six-try win against Connacht a week earlier, it was a flat, listless performance for the first 60 minutes of the game where handling errors and poor decisions cost them and stunted any chance they had of building momentum, making it a very frustrating performance to watch.
But at the same time they weren’t helped by the refereeing decisions of Andrew Brace, and at times they must have felt like they were playing against 16 as not one 50-50 decision went the way of the visitors.
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Brace’s decision that Emmanuel Tshituka had not touched down, where it seemed almost a certainty that the ball had touched grass, but television replays couldn’t confirm it, was a massive blow in the second half for the visitors, as it was just as they were trying to mount a comeback.
Before that, a seemingly innocuous moment where Morgan Naude had lifted Justin Tipuric above the 90, but lowered him without incident, seemed incredibly harsh for Brace, with multiple stadium replays and a baying crowd, to give him a yellow card.
But these were massive moments for the Lions that stopped them in their tracks.
Yet, at the end of the day, the Lions weren’t good at all, being a shadow of themselves from last week where they were disciplined, punchy and counter attacked and showed the heart of their names to score an emphatic victory.
LIONS FRUSTRATED
While there was still the energy, the focus and determination was lacking.
Plus, they lost the breakdown battle and were bullied at times on defence even though they never game up.
In all this was frustrating to watch, not only because the scales were slightly tipped against the Lions, but when they had created chances to score, they weren’t disciplined enough to take them.
In the end they could have adapted better, but seemed listless in comparison to the previous week.
The Lions went behind early when Tom Botha crossed from close range and were chasing the game throughout.
A second try followed without reply when Sam Parry went over after a break by Reuben Morgan-Morris.
The Lions battled back and tried their best to get parity, but time and again were frustrated by themselves and had to wait until just before halftime before PJ Botha forced his way over from close range.
The Emirates Lions persistence pays off 🦁
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PJ Botha scores to change Cash van Rooyen's half-time talk 🏉💪
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But a late penalty cost them and they went into the break 15-6 behind.
TOO LITTLE TOO LATE
The second half wasn’t much better and was made lopsided when Naude was given his marching orders.
A man down, their defence went soft, and Morgan Morris barnstormed his way over to extend the lead a minute later.
It was followed eight minutes later by a maul try by Lewis Lloyd, which seemed to wake the Lions up.
While Tshituka was denied, the Lions hit back through Quan Horn after Richard Kriel broke a tackle a minute later and sent the fullback away to score.
Kriel followed in the corner in the 74th minute to give the Lions hope of a losing bonus point, but despite countless advantages, three consecutive 22m penalties and more than enough evidence for an Ospreys yellow card, Brace denied them again.
It ended with Keiran Williams scoring at the death to make the scoreline more comfortable for the home side, but it left the Lions with way too much frustration as they head to Italy to face Benetton in their EPCR Challenge playoff game next weekend.
And the impending feeling that from the ref, and especially themselves, they deserved a lot better.
Scorers
Ospreys - tries: Tom Botha, Sam Parry, Morgan Morris, Lewis Lloyd, Keiran Williams. Penalty: Owen Williams. Conversions: Williams (3), Jack Walsh.
Emirates Lions - tries: PJ Botha, Quan Horn, Richard Kriel. Conversions: Jordan Hendrikse (3).