The Emirates Lions had to adapt to the conditions and the style of their opponents during their overseas tour, but they are looking forward to re-employing the wide game that many see as their DNA in the home Vodacom United Rugby Championship matches, they are looking forward to.
This Saturday we welcome Zebre Parma to the wild streets of Joburg! 🦁
— Lions (@LionsRugbyCo) November 20, 2023
🆚 @ZebreParma
🏆: @URCOfficial_RSA
🗓: Sat, 25 Nov
⏰: 14:55
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📺: @SuperSport 201 & 211
🏟 : Emirates Airline Park#LIOvZEB @Vodacom #URC #UnitedWeRise#LionsPride🦁 pic.twitter.com/sxgffg65fx
Edwill van der Merwe topped some of the Lions’ statistics related to attacking play in the last match against Ulster at Ravenhill, and fullback Quan Horn ran 59 metres with the ball in hand, but there was still apparently some disquiet among supporters who felt the ball wasn’t going to the wings often enough.
But one of the beauties of the URC is the way it forces coaches to adopt different strategies for the different specific challenges faced on a given day, and assistant coach Ricardo Loubscher didn’t leave too much doubt at an online press conference on Tuesday that home fans can expect to see the wings get a lot of action when the Lions play Zebre in Johannesburg on Saturday.
“We discussed this on tour, we do plan to get to the edges as much as possible, but sometimes it depends on the conditions and the way the opposing teams are set up in defence,” said Loubscher.
“We have got guys on the edges who can create havoc and we would like to get the ball to them. But when you go on tour you look at the conditions you are playing in and you need two different styles. We have to plan for wet weather and take that into account when we are overseas, and are flexible around that, and at home we want to play ball in hand as that suits the conditions here. Now that we are back home we will show what we are made of.”
WON’T UNDERESTIMATE ZEBRE
Indeed, stretching opponents both with a wide game and with their tempo has brought success to the Lions against overseas teams at Emirates Airlines Park, where altitude is a big ally for the home team.
However, the Lions are not going to be duped into thinking they can just run riot against Zebre, who have shown considerable improvement this season and have managed to get crucial log points out of the last two games that has enabled them to jump to what for them is an encouraging 11th position on the overall log.
And if there was any hint of complacency within the ranks that would quickly be discouraged by one of the Lions players, wing Richard Kriel, who recently returned to South Africa to play for the Lions after a stint at Zebre.
“There is no way this game will be a walk in the park. I know the Zebre guys well and they love their rugby and will sniff an opportunity after they gained some confidence by beating the Sharks and then drawing with Cardiff,” said Kriel.
“They are capable of playing some really good rugby and we cannot afford to give them a sniff as they are a hungry team and will take the opportunity if we are off our game. If we play as well as we can we can take them, but we must be at our best.”
LIVING WITH HIS BOET
Kriel said he loved his time at Zebre but was pleased to be back home, which at this stage is Pretoria, where he shares accommodation with his brother David, who plays for the Vodacom Bulls.
“I loved Italy, it is one of the best countries in the world, and I can’t wait to see some of the guys who I shared good times with last year, and will be having coffee with some of them during the week, but it is nice to be back,” said Kriel.
“I remember when I came back to South Africa on tour late in last season’s URC to play against the Lions and the Bulls I felt like I was in Heaven when I had my first Spur burger. My boet and I do live together and we motivate each other to do well but we are both very professional so we would never share any set plays or anything like that.”
CAN PASS ON ZEBRE SECRETS
There is nothing stopping Kriel though from sharing some of the Zebre secrets now that he is in opposition to them and Loubscher said he would be happy to get some pointers from the former Zebre backline player.
“It is always good to have a chat and today (Tuesday) being a typical day where we do reviews etc, this might be an opportunity for Richard to share some information with us,” said Loubscher.
The assistant coach Loubscher backed up the view gained from the evidence of their narrow defeat to Ulster when he said his team isn’t far from cracking it and finding winning form.
“We feel like we are in the fight and the turning point is not far away for us. There are still faults in our game. For instance just after halftime we made mistakes against Ulster that landed us in trouble after we had been leading at the break after a really good first half. We need to switch on for 80 minutes,” he said.
The Lions’ record from the season vindicates the view that they have been in the fight - they lost by just two points to the Stormers in their opening game in Johannesburg, by one to Edinburgh and by five to Benetton before pipping Scarlets in their third tour game. They are currently 13th on the log table after losing three of their four tour matches but with just a bit of luck they could conceivably have won three or even four of those matches which would have put them near the top of the standings.
What they do need to do though is start getting across the line as winners in these close games so they can make a proper fist of their quest for a top eight place that will bring their first qualification for the Champions Cup as well as the URC playoffs.