Cape Town – Sanele Nohamba praised his Lions teammates for “pulling together” during a difficult few weeks to produce two outstanding victories in the United Rugby Championship (URC).
The No 9 played the game of his life on Saturday in scoring 24 points in the Lions’ 29-25 win over the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld – their first triumph over a South African side after 10 defeats in a row.
It follows last weekend’s 35-24 victory over the Glasgow Warriors, which was a much-needed performance after reports of player unhappiness and other off-field issues in the Lions camp recently.
And it was Nohamba who provided the inspiration as he scored a brilliant try and slotted two conversions and five penalties for a memorable Man of the Match performance.
The 24-year-old had made the move to the Lions from the Sharks this season, and now it has paid off handsomely.
“It was very tough. It was a good-quality Bulls side, and they kept us under pressure. It was a tough couple of weeks for us, and we just had to pull together and work as a team – and the result went our way today,” Nohamba said during a post-match SuperSport interview.
“I’m loving Joburg. It’s my new home now … love the people, love the place. It’s just been rejuvenating for me.”
Man of the Match, Sanele Nohamba gives us his thoughts after a sublime individual performance.#LionsPride 🦁 pic.twitter.com/3bESYoSWmY
He added in a video clip on the Lions Twitter account: “It’s always special to play at Loftus – there’s a lot of history behind this stadium. It was really good … a quality side, they put us under pressure.
“Without shying away from it, we haven’t beaten any South African side, so it was really good to put one over a South African side, and the boys are really proud (of the win).
“We will take it game-by-game and not rush it or anything, and see how we go.”
Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen was delighted with the scrumhalf’s display, and also complimented the team’s fighting spirit as the Bulls roared back from a 20-3 deficit to lead 25-23 at one stage in the second half.
“His decision-making and right boot complements one another. He’s got the ability to reapply pressure or take pressure away from the guys around him. I think he was awesome tonight,” Van Rooyen said about Nohamba.
“I think the last two weeks did the talking in that regard. We’re focusing on rugby and between the four lines – we can control that, and our performance can control what has been written there. Hats off to the players for standing up and fight like they did the last two weeks.
“I think that’s (fitness) the point of difference currently for us in Jan (January) and currently … But also, when you tend to give away penalties, especially from minute 40 to 60, then you tend to go back 40 to 50 metres, defend a maul or work around the corner.
“That makes you a lot more tired than either attacking or not conceding a penalty, and hopefully getting a defensive turnover within three or four phases.
“Just the fact that we’ve cleaned up our discipline a little bit speaks to that as well, because we don’t have to use that amount of energy to defend the whole time.
“You kind of get stuck in the rut of the mindset of defend, defend, defend, and that makes you tired. So, well done to the guys again – I think their work-rate and character around that was awesome.”
POINTS-SCORERS
Bulls 25 – Tries: Wandisile Simelane (2), Sbu Nkosi, Johan Grobbelaar. Conversion: Morné Steyn. Penalty: Steyn.
Lions 29 – Tries: Edwill van der Merwe, Sanele Nohamba. Conversions: Nohamba (2). Penalties: Nohamba (5).