If ever there was a time to claim their true colours, for the Jekyll and Hyde Emirates Lions, it is now at the business end of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship.
The Joburg side produced another stunning performance to smash the Hollywoodbets Sharks on Saturday, moving them into ninth spot and now just six points behind the fourth-placed Sharks team that they will face again this weekend.
But for coach Ivan van Rooyen, the challenge is not just to get into the top eight and stay there - something they’ve given themselves a chance to do with home victories over the DHL Stormers and Sharks - but to try and find a lot more consistency than they have this season.
The trip to Durban is a part of a very important phase in the competition - a victory there would move them into the top eight, and give them a week’s rest to prepare for a vital trip to Europe to face Cardiff and defending champions Glasgow Warriors.
That will be followed by two weeks of EPCR Challenge Cup playoff action, and good performances in these next few weeks could set them up nicely for the final phase of the competition. Or it could ruin their hopes completely.
WHICH LIONS SIDE WILL PITCH UP?
The one thing about this season’s Lions performances is that you never know which side is going to pitch up? Will it be the exceptional attacking prowess that flattened the Stormers and Sharks?
Or will it be the same disappointment that followed both games against the Bulls, where the Lions were on the back foot virtually from kickoff?
Their performances have see-sawed so much that it wasn’t a surprise that before he even started his post-match post mortem of the win over the Sharks on Saturday, coach Ivan van Rooyen had to laugh when he was quipped about why the Lions can’t play like that every week.
It was an off the cuff joke before the presser, but Van Rooyen laughed and answered honestly: “If I had the answer I would…” before being cut off by the start of proceedings.
That is the crux of the matter for the Lions. They have the talent and game plan to run any side off their feet - especially in Joburg at altitude - but they can’t seem to put sustainable performances together to trouble the big guns in the competition.
Before the Stormers and Sharks victories there was a sense that their season was drifting towards oblivion, that they were exiting the conversation on who will make the playoffs.
But those performances have shown just how potent their attack can be if they get it right, and now the question is why they can’t string more performances like that together in a row?
SEARCH FOR CONSISTENCY
That search for consistency is something that is occupying the Lions’ thoughts more and more as they navigate their season, knowing their talent is starting to flourish, but their results have been up and down.
For that reason, the management decided to change the way the team trains, and have put a lot of emphasis on the work-rate the players put in during the games, and on Saturday it started to pay off.
“Unbelievably proud of the work rate, it is probably the best we have played in terms of game management plus understanding how we want to play in the circumstances. We put a huge emphasis on work rate this week,” coach Van Rooyen explained after the win over the Sharks.
“They showed against the Bulls that they are fit, tough and quick. So I’m really proud of the effort.”
If you look at the weather and the week we had, one or two injuries - probably the best performance of the season.”
SHARKS WOUNDED
But with the Sharks wounded and waiting for them in Durban, the Lions know the hard work can’t stop now, especially if they are to record their fourth straight win over the star-studded team with the deepest pockets in South Africa.
More important than log position is proving to themselves that they can back up a performance like that, and it needs to be done.
Van Rooyen believes the last five minutes of the win over the Sharks, where the Lions allowed two late tries in to give the coastal side their only points of the fixture, cured any complacency that would be there on Monday.
“Last five minutes have done that for me - letting them back in. We’ve trained the way we’ve trained in the last month, so it is important for us to keep on developing that, keep on focusing on what is important for us, and to make sure we get the small things right.
“I can promise you we won’t be complacent.”
And he praised the team’s defence as a big part of their success. That will need to be just as good in Durban if they are to back up this win.
“It wasn’t always the fact we didn’t work hard enough, we didn’t work smart enough. We have been pretty clear on expectations in the system. The guys have responded very well and their decision-making has really improved big time there, and that compliments the defence.”
Either way the Lions are sure to have a positive start to the week and brace themselves for the Durban backlash.
But they know more than ever they need to prove to themselves they can be the beautiful version of their own game plan, and not the monster that too often surfaces when it shouldn’t.