How Lions turned things around

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - OCTOBER 18: Warren Whiteley of the Lions gets tackled during the Absa Currie Cup semi final match between Xerox Golden Lions and Cell C Sharks at Ellis Park on October 18, 2014 in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Photo by Duif du Toit/Gallo Images)

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - OCTOBER 18: Warren Whiteley of the Lions gets tackled during the Absa Currie Cup semi final match between Xerox Golden Lions and Cell C Sharks at Ellis Park on October 18, 2014 in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Photo by Duif du Toit/Gallo Images)

Published Oct 22, 2014

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The successful running game of the Lions, which has got them into Saturday’s Currie Cup final, has its foundations in last year’s “Lions Challenge” – a competition arranged by the union’s management to keep the players busy while Super Rugby was on the go.

Of course, the Lions didn’t feature in Super Rugby last year, having been relegated to make place for the Southern Kings. But a string of friendly matches against the likes of Russia, French club Mont de Marsan and Samoa were organised for the players and it is here when coach Johan Ackermann and his assistant Swys de Bruin, pictured, decided the Lions would play running rugby.

“It was specifically the Samoa game when we chose to entertain the fans. We ran almost every-thing,” said De Bruin this week ahead of his team’s showdown with Western Province. The Lions scored 10 tries against the big and physical Samoans, the majority of them from a long way out, in winning 74-14.

“We realised we don’t like crash-ball rugby,” said De Bruin. “If we had big, heavy forwards, we’d probably not play the way we do. We’ve got mobile players, guys who are good on their feet, so we evolved into a team that uses those elements to our advantage. It’s really all about one’s mindset, the way you decide to play.”

Following their success against Samoa in June last year, Ackermann and Co continued to back their fleet-footed backs and mobile forwards in last year’s Currie Cup where, despite only finishing fourth and losing in the semi-finals, they were the top try-scoring side. They ran in a whopping 40 tries, 17 more than the table-topping WP. And in this year’s Super Rugby competition they outscored the Sharks, Stormers and Bulls for tries, with only the Cheetahs of the local sides, crossing the whitewash more often.

But one game in the Super Rugby competition confirmed to De Bruin that he and Ackermann were on the right track. “It was against the Highlanders in Dunedin. We were 23-0 down at half-time and decided ‘we’re now going to play some rugby’. The guys enjoyed it, the style suited them, and from then on we encouraged them to play like we do now,” said De Bruin. On May 10 the Lions kept ball in hand in the second half and ran the Highlanders off their feet, keeping them scoreless in the second half, but they lost 22-23. Elton Jantjies missed the conversion to win the match, but it should have been retaken after the Highlanders players charged too early.

Their free-running approach took a step up in the Currie Cup, bringing them admirers – and plenty of tries. The Lions go into the final having scored the most tries in the Currie Cup – 50 in their 11 matches.

De Bruin says the secret to playing an expansive, running game is to back the players. “There are going to be mistakes, players will make errors, but you can’t blame guys for trying things and having a go. If you do that then they’ll be fearful to do something the next time and then the whole mindset is altered … and you don’t want that”. - The Star

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