'frustrating Errors' Cost Lions Against Bulls, Says Coach Ivan Van Rooyen

Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen was left to lament costly errors in his teams home United Rugby Championship clash against the Bulls on Saturday, which they lost 35-22.

The Lions looked to have weathered an early Bulls charge to lead 11-10 at half-time at Ellis Park, and the gap could have been bigger but for some wayward goal-kicking from young flyhalf Sam Francis and a try that went begging.

At one stage in the second half, we felt we managed to turn the momentum, Van Rooyen said in the post-match press conference.

We scored, we were ahead. Frustrating errors from our side two kick-offs... I think we stopped for a moment when we thought the ball was going to go out directly, and they tapped it in and that almost put us under pressure to try and play a little bit differently.

We were good enough for some stages, but its not 85 minutes yet.