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A history-making Lions team have no intention of taking their foot off the gas after they reached the United Rugby Championship playoffs for the first time, coach Ivan van Rooyen says.Though the Lions were beaten 24-17 by Munster in their final league outing, the Gauteng outfit still had enough points in the bag to reach the money-spinning knockout phase of the competition.Next up for the Lions is a tough quarterfinal clash against Irish powerhouse Leinster at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium on May 30.“Obviously, it was a goal from the beginning to reach the playoffs,” Van Rooyen said. “I think we’ve gradually been getting better.“It is such a long season with so many challenges and ups and downs. So to come at the end of the normal season and to be in the top eight is a proud moment for us.“Hopefully we can keep on building momentum and just keep on getting better.”Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen. (Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images) Van Rooyen said his team must use every scoring opportunity that comes their way in the playoffs after squandering chances in their previous games against Leinster and Munster.“Against Munster we had some opportunities to score one or two tries more, but we just didn’t. And in the attacking zone, we lost a couple of line-outs, and then you can’t apply that attacking pressure. We are talking about quality opposition, tough conditions when facing Leinster and Munster away.“Like I said, consistently just not good enough for us to capitalise on that [opportunities], but there are also enough positives to really get excited about that opportunity. I think in both fixtures, there were some good glimpses of good physicality, momentum, quick ball at stages — because they can put you under so much pressure in these conditions.”The Lions try scorers against Munster were Quan Horn and Kelly Mpeku.Our decision-making can still improve a little bit, and our game management at times has been really good, and at times we put ourselves under pressure there.— Ivan van Rooyen, Lions coach“I think initially we gave Munster too much quick ball and let them run onto us,” Van Rooyen said. “We took too long to adjust there. But once we fixed it, we created opportunities ourselves.“Probably our lineout attack and maul attack let us down a little against Munster. Our decision-making can still improve a bit, and our game management at times has been really good, and at times we put ourselves under pressure there.“Our one-on-one hits have also been good at times, and at others we are just not setting quick enough — and then they are getting momentum, and once those teams run onto you, it is difficult to stop. We also missed quite a bit of detail, and that is something we can be sharper with.“To be honest, I think playing against Leinster at the Aviva creates its own pressure. But in terms of a must-win for log position and getting through [to the Champions Cup], that pressure is now off us.“The only question now is: can we rise to the occasion and play our game against Leinster?”URC quarterfinalsMay 29: QF1: Glasgow Warriors vs ConnachtMay 30: QF2: Leinster vs LionsQF3: Stormers vs Cardiff QF4: Bulls v Munster.
