CONNACHT COACH STUART Lancaster gave glowing credit to the Lions for their 33-21 victory in their United Rugby Championship match at Ellis Park on Saturday, but the experienced coach could not help but wonder what might have been if a referee’s call late in the first half had gone their way.

With the first half coming to an end and Connacht having piled on the pressure in the Lions’ 22 for the last 15 minutes, a five-metre lineout was set from a penalty, and the rolling maul quickly advanced forward.

Less than a metre from the tryline, the maul collapsed and referee Filippo Russo ruled that the home side had not done anything illegal, giving them the put-in at the subsequent scrum.

Unfortunately for Connacht, the bill for their failure to score in the second quarter then became due. From their right corner flag, the Lions broke free and, on the stroke of the halftime hooter, flanker Siba Mahashe took advantage of a two-man overlap and scored.

Replays suggested that there may have been a forward pass in the move, but that was never checked by the officials.

From being so close to going into the break 7-14 down, Connacht suddenly found themselves trailing 21-0 at halftime.

“The game changed. We had that maul in the corner which we felt we should have got more out of.

“They then go and score, we thought a pass should have been checked, and suddenly from it possibly being 14-7 we are 21-0 down and that is a big gap. If it had been 14-7, that would have been similar to the game against the Stormers when we were 10-7 down and felt we were in the fight,” Lancaster told The 42 after the game.

“Conceding the first try was disappointing and the try early in the second half as well, but I thought we stayed in the fight well. I know we didn’t manage to get a log point, but points difference could make a difference in the end. We got five log points on tour, we’ll take that, and the positives from the last two weeks far outweigh the negatives.

“We know how good the Lions are, the last three teams that have come here have conceded an aggregate of 150 points, so the Lions are a serious side at home. We have respect for how well the Lions played, here at altitude, on this pitch, it is hard for any visiting team,” Lancaster said.

The former England World Cup coach admitted though that Connacht paid the price for a lack of precision on attack.

“We made some line-breaks but we just couldn’t finish. You have to give the opposition their deserved credit for their speed and athleticism in covering those spaces, there’s a half-second gap at this level. We created opportunities, but you have to give the Lions defence a lot of credit and the gap was just too much,” Lancaster said.

Despite the disappointment in Johannesburg, Connacht are still very much in the market for a playoff place. Lancaster pointed out that several key players were missing on their South African tour and they should return in time for their last two matches, hosting Munster on May 9 and then visiting Edinburgh on May 15 as they hunt a place in the top-eight.

“Some seriously good players were not available today. Two props are not here because their wives had babies just before the tour, Caolin Blade has a broken hand and Mack Hansen and Bundee Aki had issues that kept them from touring. And then we lost Cathal Forde and Dave Heffernan last week,” Lancaster pointed out.