The Emirates Lions displayed a spirited performance against the table-topping Irish outfit Leinster in their United Rugby Championship encounter at the RDS Arena last Friday.

Despite going down 21-13, the Jaco Kriel-led side showed a much-improved performance, in a match which could have seen the men from Johannesburg claim victory in a fiercely contested encounter.

“I’m so proud of how the youngsters conducted themselves in the week leading up to the fixture,” complimented the 11-capped Springbok.

“We spoke at length in the past two weeks of how we needed to inject passion and intent into our way of doing things and tonight showed exactly that,” he concuded.

A stand-out performance by scrumhalf Morne van den Berg ensured the Emirates Lions found themselves in favourable positions across both halves, placing pressure on Leinster. The lively number 9 created a try for his captain five minutes from full time after a sniping run off the base of the Lions’ dominating scrum.

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— Lions (@LionsRugbyCo) February 25, 2022

The team next face Cardiff Rugby on 13 March at Emirates Airline Park in the rescheduled Vodacom United Rugby Championship fixture.