Basic errors let Lions down as SA's maiden European Cup participation ends

FT | Glasgow 31-21 Lions

The Sharks and then the Stormers were eliminated from the Champions Cup quarter-finals earlier on Saturday, going down to Toulouse and Exeter Chiefs, respectively. 

This match promised much for the Lions, who looked the more physically dominant side for large chunks of the contest, but they were let down by their own execution with basic errors plaguing their performance. 

By the end, the Lions were comfortably the better side, but Glasgow's two tries inside the opening 20 minutes were a blow that the Lions ultimately could not recover from. 

There was then a moment of real concern when right wing Rabz Maxwane was stretchered off with what looked a serious injury, and the Lions just couldn't get any continuity going on attack as the match had a stop-start feel to it. 

The Lions had more than their fair share of opportunities in the first half, however, particularly in the final 15 minutes when they were camped in the Glasgow 22m area. 

But every time the visitors got close to the Glasgow line, they would either knock on or give away a penalty, which would have been hugely frustrating to those in Johannesburg who were staying up to watch. 

With the final play of the first half, Lions scrumhalf Sanele Nohamba celebrated what he thought was finally a try, but replays showed he had performed an illegal double movement to score and the Lions had nothing to show for their efforts. 

Glasgow led 14-0 at the break, and the Lions were their own worst enemy at times given their inability to stay composed and clinical in the moments that mattered most. 

The Lions then started the second half where they left off in the first, going through 17 phases of attack before winning a penalty inside the Glasgow 22. This time,