Swys finds sweet and sour in win over Jaguares

Emirates Lions coach Swys de Bruin fought back the emotions on Saturday as he celebrated his young team’s seven-try victory over the Jaguares, but lamented the loss of a bonus point through a late comeback by the Argentineans.

The Lions were 47-13 up at one stage but eventually won 47-39 as the Argentinean side scored late tries to give the scoreline some respectability on their part.

But while there are enough work-ons for De Bruin and co to look at now that the dust has settled, the overwhelming plus must be the performance of seven junior players he put into the side to prove their worth.

It was the sort of response that De Bruin would have wanted and showed that the loss to the Bulls, as unsettling as it was, was simply a blip on the radar and that the Lions still have a lot of firepower in reserve for the rest of the season.

And more importantly, it upped the ante in team selection terms and brought some exciting young talent to the fore.

But the coach was in two minds when the game ended, as he was happy for the win but still lamenting the loss of a bonus point.

"Can I be honest with you, I’m very happy for the youngsters. I’m thankful but I tell you what, if you look at our caps the last 10 minutes compared to them. They still had 22 internationals, although they rotated a lot of players," De Bruin said.

"So what those guys did there for me was phenomenal. But I’m not happy. We had the bonus point in the bag and let it slip. They played well in the last few minutes. The best way to describe it is thankful, but definitely disappointed we slipped a bonus point. It is two now, we lost it in Cape Town when we let it slip and again today.

"If you look at our caps the last 10 minutes and you compare it with theirs it was a massive performance to score seven tries."

De Bruin was happy for the seven tries scored.

"It was a team effort because if a pass or two stuck at the end there from Kwagga to Courtnall, then you put it under the sticks and then it is 55. There are a few things that really disappointed me. The players know you can’t pass only with your eyes. But if you told me we would score seven tries against a full international team with this bunch of youngsters, and win with five points, I would have been happy. So to score seven tries for me was fantastic. Not happy with the tries we leaked, especially there at the end."

He added that the performance had taken a burden off his shoulders and the future looked good.

"I said it the whole time it isn’t just about winning or losing. I can’t say the whole time when it goes well. Honestly it is a burden off my shoulder, but hell it is a disappointing one. It was set to be one of the better ones. It is like you’re batting and you go for 100 and you are out in the 90s. And they come back. I don’t know, it was disappointing that bonus point we gave away."

The Lions face the Melbourne Rebels this week in their next game.