We had a nightmare, admits O'Connell
O'Connell expecting improvements
Also In The News
|
Guus Hiddink is hoping to end his short tenure as Chelsea manager on a high in the FA Cup final against Everton. |  |
Saturday, 30, May 2009 09:07
British and Irish Lions captain Paul O'Connell admitted his team had a "nightmare" in their opening match of the tour of South Africa.
A rusty Lions side were heading for an embarrassing defeat as they trailed the Royal XV 25-13 well into the second-half. But they saved themselves with late tries from Lee Byrne, Alun Wyn-Jones and Ronan O'Gara to claim a 37-25 win.
The scoreline was impressive in the end, but the performance was very disappointing from the Lions and an honest O'Connell admitted his team had a lot of hard work ahead of them.
"We've all had bad games, we've all gone out there and had nightmares, but we've just got to put it behind us. We've got a good bunch of lads here and I think the boys will be fine," O'Connell told Sky Sports.
"We've been working hard on getting used to playing with each other but you have to remember what you need to bring to a rugby match as well - the physicality, the attention to detail.
"That's hard when you're just coming together as a team but we're trying to get beyond that now and focus and improve on Wednesday (against the Golden Lions)."
Assistant Lions coach Shaun Edwards admitted he was "shocked" his side were losing at half-time, but was confident they would be ready for the Test matches after a few more warm-up games.