Consistency key for Lions in hunt for top 8 spot, says coach

The Lions are targeting a strong run of home wins to make a play for the United Rugby Championship (URC) playoffs, starting with a massive clash against Irish giants Leinster at Ellis Park on Saturday afternoon (kick-off 3pm).

The 11th placed hosts know that they need to win at least three, if not four, of their final five games if they are to make it into the competition top eight to qualify for the knockouts, and the odds are firmly stacked against them.

Currently Leinster are top of the table, Munster are fourth, Glasgow Warriors are second, Cardiff are 12th and the Stormers are fifth, and those are their final pool matches, meaning they have to beat most of the teams currently in the competition’s top five to stand a chance.

Consistency

Lions assistant coach Barend Pieterse admitted that consistency has cost the team dearly so far in the URC this season and that is the major work-on for them in a tough end-of-season run-in.

“I think that is the main work-on for us going into these final few games. Over the whole season (so far) we play two or three very good games and then we play two or three poor games. That also happened on tour (this past month),” explained Pieterse.

“So our focus is fully on Leinster, on winning that game, and then we will look towards Munster after that. But our biggest work-on to get right as a coaching team and as a squad is to make sure we are more consistent in the way we play.”

‘No comebacks from Leinster’

Although Leinster are not expected to be at full strength this weekend, with them sending a mixed team of second-stringers and starters to South Africa, the Lions will be well aware of the challenge that Leinster’s entire squad bring.

Last season a Leinster team full of academy graduates produced a stunning comeback at Ellis Park, after the Lions led 26-14 at halftime and 36-21 with 18 minutes left, before two late tries and two penalties saw the visitors clinch a thrilling 39-36 win in the end.

The Lions will thus be desperate not to make the same mistakes this time round, with Pieterse claiming that they are too good of a team to do that again.

“I was actually here in the stands watching that game last year, so I remember it well. But that can’t happen again. Actually it can’t happen in any game, I think we are a good enough team and we have good enough players for that not to happen,” said Pieterse.

“It doesn’t matter if they play a B or C team, it will always be a good squad that we play against. That is something we talk about every single day and work on in our sessions. We can’t have a lead and then throw it away in the last 10 or 15 minutes.”