Lions boss Ivan van Rooyen buoyed by performance against Stormers

The visitors started like a house on fire, scoring a try in the opening minute via the explosive Ruan Venter. The Lions kept up the intensity and capitalised on the Stormers' mistakes to take a 17-10 lead at the break.

But John Dobson's men put together a superlative performance in the second stanza, starving the Lions of the ball to earn a bonus point win in the end.

But there are plenty of positives for van Rooyen. The coach was cognizant of the fact that his underdog Lions were up against one of the best clubs in the world at the moment.

"We played against probably the most in-form team in world rugby," van Rooyen told the press.

"After a performance like that, I'd be surprised if we get into a slump. I'm really proud of the effort.

"I think we played well enough to get the win. One or two moments, the ball bounced back 30 metres off the cricket pitch. That's the game - it was really small margins.

"I'm really proud of the effort and really proud of the solutions we found. We lost two No.5 locks in 20 minutes. We showed great character, great fight."

"One or two calls that could've gone either way probably didn't go our way, and I think that was probably the difference."

The Lions next host the revitalised Sharks in Johannesburg on Saturday.