Bulls not our hoodoo team says Lions coach after Jukskei Derby loss

Rowan Callaghan

Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen feels that the Jukskei Derby against the Bulls in the United Rugby Championship on Saturday was not lost in an opening 20-minute blitz by their neighbours.

The Bulls won the match at Loftus Versfeld 31-19.

The Pretoria side roared out of the blocks by scoring three tries in 13 minutes through Springbok speedster Canan Moodie, Willie le Roux and Sebastian de Klerk. But the Lions clawed their way back into the contest, reducing the deficit to 17-14 at half-time through tries by Henco van Wyk and PJ Botha.

Moodie and flank Marco van Staden added the final two tries that earned the Bulls a bonus point.

“We spoke about it the whole week. We knew they were going to be fired up," Van Rooyen said after the match.

"To allow them to get off to that start obviously puts you under pressure, and more so unnecessary pressure. Then to show the character that we did to fight back, pull it back in time, adds to the feeling currently in the change room.

"So, I think at the end of the day we didn’t lose the game in the first 20 minutes but we didn’t play as well."

And it wasn't a matter of running out of gas because they were chasing the game.

"We believe we had enough in the tank to take them 80 minutes. We believe that, and even the pictures we saw throughout the first 40, 50, 60 minutes, we had enough to expose them," Van Rooyen said. "To have two tries disallowed kind of breaks that momentum again.

"Between all the emotions currently, to score three, four, five tries against the Bulls speaks volumes about our attack. Probably in the second half there were too many penalties against us, too many individual errors. We need to have a good look at that."

The Lions have lost four of their past five URC matches against their arch-rivals. However, Van Rooyen doesn’t believe the Bulls are their hoodoo team.

“I don’t think it’s a hoodoo, to be honest. Last year here (at Loftus) I felt we were unlucky,” he said of the 30-28 loss.

“I think we did enough. It was a tough call at the end and the penalty could have gone otherwise. They probably outplayed us at home last year."

A rampant Bulls pack laid the foundation for a 35-22 win at Ellis Park on January 25.

“We’re disappointed in about 15-minute spells (before and after) half-time a couple of weeks ago at home. And probably about another five to eight minutes today was a turning point in momentum and then perceptions change and then opinions change," the Lions mentor said.

“I’m definitely not one that gives up and says it’s a hoodoo, it’s impossible (to win). It’s there that we feel we’re at the edge of turning and getting the result. It’s just up to us to be 2%, 5% better.”

Next up for the Lions in the URC are back-to-back matches against the Sharks. The first match is at home at Ellis Park on Saturday. The second is at Kings Park a week later.

The Lions are in twelfth spot in the table after 10 games. The Sharks are flying high in fourth spot.