The only good thing about the Lions’ 38-8 defeat by the Jagaures in Buenos Aires early yesterday morning is that it is over and they don’t have to travel to Argentina again this Super Rugby season.
Not too many teams go to South America and win these days and in five attempts now, the Lions have won only once in Buenos Aires - last season.
This defeat, though, was their heaviest by far and certainly not the way they would have wanted to start their 2020 campaign.
On a positive note, however, the fact the defeat came in the first game of the new Super Rugby season means the Lions can close the door on the result and the performance and look ahead.
While the new-look Lions team - with several new players and combinations at play - were very much in the game at half-time (10-8 behind), they were blown away in the second half; their defence letting them down badly.
In fact, they missed 37 tackles, and allowed the Jaguares players too much space and time in open play.
The men from Buenos Aires, who won the South African Conference last year and played in the final, dominated most areas of the match and asked far more questions of the Lions than coach Ivan van Rooyen’s team did of their hosts.
It was a fully deserved first-up win for the Jaguares, who looked like they may well be the team to beat in the SA Conference again in 2020.
The Lions, with several rookies in the mix, have now had their “wake-up call” and should hopefully, be better off in this week and in the days ahead.
The good news is they’re at home this weekend and up against a Reds team that they’ll feel they should beat.
The men from Brisbane were edged by the Brumbies in Canberra, but the Lions will back themselves at Emirates Airline Park.
Coach Van Rooyen, though, will have to have a good think about his team make-up in the coming days because it is unlike a Lions team to score only one try in a fairly open match where the ball-in-play-time was high.
There were generally too many basic errors made by the Lions, but they will hope to rectify those issues in the coming days.
There were times during the game that the Lions seemed to lack experience and leadership and one wonders if the experienced No 8 Willem Alberts may come into the picture this week ...
There should also be news today of the availability and/or return of men like Gianni Lombard, Ross Cronje and Wandisile Simelane.
The Lions need a big response this week because in round three they host a Stormers team that looked to be on top of their game in beating the Hurricanes at Newlands at the weekend.