Lions left frustrated after Leinster clash swings on key moments

The Lions put up a brave fight in the United Rugby Championship clash against Leinster on Saturday.

At 14-7 going into the final 10 minutes, the match was evenly balanced, but coach Ivan van Rooyen acknowledged that three defensive errors, which led to three Leinster tries and a final score of 31-7, made the battle look less tight than it actually was.

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He also felt a little hard done by by the fact that a few calls didn’t go his side’s way in those final minutes.

“I think we showed some great character to fight back,” Van Rooyen said after the game.

“Minute 68, got three sequences where we feel [there were] tough calls against us at 14-7.

“[We] could have got some penalties and get into their half.

“Unfortunately, we made literally three defensive errors, which led to three tries.

“So up to minute 68, we felt we had swung the momentum back into our favour.

“[We had an] opportunity there for us to maybe get lucky and do something special against Leinster.”

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Van Rooyen acknowledged that defensive errors against a side like Leinster weren’t something the Lions could afford, and he felt it blew out the score a little, but said it was something his side had to improve on.

“Unfortunately, in the last 10 minutes, we conceded three tries, which throws the score a little bit off. But we're not blind to the things that we had to do better.

“If you're going to make three defensive errors against a quality Leinster team away, they're going to score three tries.

“So some moments we created weren’t capitalised on, and before you know it, the game is away from you,” Van Rooyen added.

The Lions face another tough Irish test in the form of Munster in their final URC league game.

That takes place on Saturday, with kick-off at 20:45.