Lions coach hails bench's impact in victory over toothless Sharks

The Lions cruised to a bonus-point 40-10 victory at Emirates Airline Park to continue their resurgent season. While they are still 11th on the United Rugby Championship table, there is a mid-table traffic jam. The men from Johannesburg are just four points off Connacht in seventh place, who they face later this month.

On Saturday, the Lions dominated much of the opening half but failed to get out of reach on the scoreboard, heading to the break nine points in front. But a superlative performance in the second stanza saw them score 21 unanswered points - including three tries in the final quarter - for a comprehensive victory. 

"With momentum, decision-making increases and pressure increases... with the set-piece momentum, you can stay on top of the opposition," van Rooyen told rugby365com.

"I think that was good from our side today [Saturday]. We felt we generated momentum, whether it was beating the man or just through a carry with quick ball.

"I think we managed to get that aspect a lot better than two weeks ago [against the Bulls]. I don't think there will ever be a perfect game in that sense. I think what we handled it a lot better today was when the momentum swung and we managed to get it back on our side.

"I think that first period after the long break was a bit of an arm-wrestle to see where the space was and how you can get momentum back.

"I think the bench made a big difference. Historically after the first 30 [minutes], we could have got frustrated a little bit because we felt we had the upper hand but the score didn't really show.

"We felt the team stuck through the 80 minutes and kept composure and that is obviously a positive for us."

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