Lions to work on concentration lapses

The Emirates Lions may not feel too aggrieved at their close loss in the high-scoring Superhero Sunday game at FNB Stadium this weekend, but it did show them some sides of their game that need a lot of work.

The Lions have the unenviable task of opening their season in Buenos Aires against last season’s conference winners, the Jaguares in a late-night game in round one, and feel that their concentration levels may have slipped a bit, something that will be crucial against the Argentinean side.

The lead changed hands no less than eight times during the game against the Vodacom Bulls and they could easily have snatched it at the death, but the Bulls luck held out for a close win.

Still, while the building blocks of a good system are there, coach Ivan van Rooyen believes that the team “played in patches.”

“There was good quality attack from both sides, good defence at times, but we played in patches, and we put them under pressure in patches, both on attack and defence,” he explained.

“We also let it slip a little bit, but in total that last 15-20 minutes was good exposure for the young guys. There were guys out there who haven’t played Super Rugby and who haven’t got even five Super Rugby caps, so it was good for them to experience that pressure. It’s good for them and good for us to see how they handle the pressure.”

The Lions had pretty much the same problem when their second-stringers ran out against the Bulls at Loftus on Friday, losing 33-22 with their lack of concentration in the second half costing them dearly. It is now a situation that needs to be addressed and will take up a significant chunk of the team’s time in their last few sessions before heading to Argentina.

“It is the first time we actually have a true reflection of where we are and that is a positive. We will have a good look at this game and then on Tuesday, Wednesday have an honest discussion with the guys on how it felt out there. They make decisions under pressure on what they feel out there.

“And then there is not a lot of time to go – next week is three training sessions, the week thereafter is one and then we fly to Buenos Aires on the Tuesday. It is a big week for us in terms of fixing and in terms of preparation.”

But all is not lost, and the season hasn’t even begun yet, so the Lions are taking solace at the fact they can still rectify matters before they head to Argentina.

“As soon as we build pressure on attack and defence, one or two lapses and that pressure is gone. For us as a union and a system, we firmly believe there is a lot of good stuff going both on attack and defence and to just keep on going with it, and build longer phases of pressure,” Van Rooyen added.

But he will know more than others time is running out, and while the Lions won their opening game in Buenos Aires last year – still the only SA team to have won there in the past two years – a lack of concentration could be fatal in their opening game.