Johannesburg - Now to tweak, correct and fix. That’s what the Lions will be doing in the next two weeks as they prepare themselves for the 2017 Super Rugby season.
Johan Ackermann and his charges wrapped up their pre-season fixture schedule with a match against the Stormers at Newlands on Saturday and while it was the home team that came out on top (59-40), the Lions coaching staff got exactly what they wanted from the outing.
And it’s now a matter of analysing the game, seeing what things worked and what didn’t and keeping certain aspects and eradicating others. We are, after all, only two weeks away from the Lions kicking off their campaign against the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein.
The key focus this week is almost certainly going to be on defence, as the Lions let in 59 points and a quite incredible nine tries. That said, the home team also weren’t up to scratch in that department, conceding 40 points.
“We let in a lot of points, but maybe that’s to be expected in a warm-up game,” said Ackermann afterwards. “But it’s certainly an area that will receive plenty of attention in the coming weeks.”
For many of the Lions’ players this was their first run in a competitive game this season after Ackermann picked very different looking sides for the other two warm-up matches - against the Bulls and an invitation Barbarians side.
“The reality is many of the guys last played rugby a long time ago,” said the coach. “There were some positive aspects about the match, but there were negative things as well, but that’s why you play warm-up games, to see where you are as a team.
“We had some good intensity at times, but at other times not. I was able to see certain things like the continuity in our play, how we reacted in contact and what we did at the breakdowns.
“I thought our lineouts were good, but our scrums were not so good. I think a lot of what went wrong comes down to execution, but that’s something every individual must fix, it’s their responsibility to get it right.
“You can train as much as you want, it’s what happens under pressure that matters. I think we realised today we’re going to have to step it up in the coming weeks.”
Ackermann and his assistants Swys de Bruin and JP Ferreira will now take stock of the squad and nail down their select 30 to train as the Lions’ Super Rugby group. Besides Julian Redelinghuys (out for the year) and Ruan Combrinck (back in April), Ackermann and Co will have a relatively full strength squad to pick from for their opening game.
Warren Whiteley (wisdom teeth) and Lionel Mapoe (thigh), who missed the trip to Cape Town, are expected to be fit and train with their teammates this week.