Beware – the Lions have yet to hit top form and are seeking to achieve that in the weeks ahead as they look to finish inside the play-off places.
While happy and satisfied with their most recent win – a close, but fully deserving 34-29 triumph over the Cheetahs – as well as going seven games with just one defeat, captain Warren Whiteley says his team still have plenty to give in the coming weeks.
“We want to finish in the top half of the table and we want to compete against the best in the competition,” he said on Saturday after the eight-try thriller at Ellis Park.
“There were a few soft moments by us against the Cheetahs, but I thought our attacking play was really good; we scored some fantastic tries, but it is nice knowing there’s a lot of room for improvement.
“We can still up it (the performance).”
The Lions bagged their first four-try bonus point of the season to stay in touch with the leading sides, but having dominated most areas of the contest on Saturday, coach Johan Ackermann felt his side should never have been involved in such a close match.
“We’re still a work in progress, but that’s how rugby is. Just when you think you’ve got your attack sorted out, you slip on the defence.
“We’re still striving to get the balance right and we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us to ensure we meet our standards.”
Added Whiteley, who was again the star forward on the field, making 23 tackles without a miss: “We did so well on attack tonight (Saturday) ... we had great momentum going forward and everything felt so fluent.
“We made line-breaks and scored the tries we wanted to, but then the Cheetahs did the same to us when they had the ball.
“We’re happy with the five points we bagged, but we didn’t play to the standards we want so if we’re going to get to the place we want to be we’re going to have to work a whole lot harder.”
Both teams scored four tries, with just a few kicks the difference between the sides after 80 minutes. Ackermann said the fact his team were coming off a bye may have been the reason for their sloppy defence.
“We were impatient at times and it seemed the guys were almost scared to lose. We were in such control but we weren’t as sharp as we’ve been in defence and maybe that’s because of the bye.
“We slipped one-on-one tackles, something we haven’t done this season, but we’ve got the momentum going again and hopefully we can now move forward.”
Cheetahs boss Naka Drotske said the tries by Ruan Combrinck and Lionel Mapoe straight after the half-time break had been the turning point in the game. After a nervy start the Cheetahs had fought back to lead 10-7 at the interval, but the twin strike in the 42nd and 43rd minutes by the Lions saw the hosts into a 21-10 lead.
“It was bad defence on our part and those two tries cost us,” said Drotske.
“We had to chase the game from there and while we showed great character to get back into it at 24-24, the Lions were too strong in the end.”
Drotske said his side would keep on fighting.
“We’ll take it game by game and right now it’s about respect. If the players can look each other in the eye afterwards and say they gave it 200percent, gave it their all, then it’s okay. We’ve still got a lot to play for.”
The Lions travel to Loftus this week for the return match with the Bulls, while the Cheetahs welcome the Stormers to Bloemfontein. - The Star