Lions aim to be more ‘dominant in defence’ to improve on costly slow starts

The Lions are aiming to fix their defensive structures ahead of their United Rugby Championship (URC) end of season pool stage run in, as they try to fight their way back up the log and into the top eight to qualify for the playoffs.

They have four pool games left, against Benetton next weekend, followed by Connacht, Scarlets and Ospreys, and with them currently 14^th on a congested log they can’t afford any slip ups, as just one loss will likely knock them out of the running.

A big work on for the Lions is their defence, which has been exposed a number of times this season, and particularly over the past few months, where slow starts have cost them dearly.

Most recently they shipped six first half tries in a 42-0 URC mauling by Glasgow Warriors, while over the past weekend in their Challenge Cup last 16 match against Edinburgh, they conceded a try in the opening minute, before trailing 19-0 at halftime, before being beaten 24-12.

Slow starts

Other slow starts this year saw the Lions concede a fourth minute try against the Sharks, on their way to a 12-7 halftime deficit and 25-22 loss in Durban.

While against the Bulls at Loftus they conceded three tries in the opening 12 minutes to trail 17-0, before battling back to 17-14 at halftime, but eventually went down 31-19.

“We have taken a lot of learnings from these games this year, but particularly in the past few (on tour). In the Glasgow game we were sitting on the line too much and waiting for them to run onto us. So that has been a big focus point for us to improve on,” explained Lions captain Francke Horn.

“It’s about being more physical and dominant on defence, and to get off the line quicker to initiate contact and don’t let them (the opposition) come onto us.

“If we can do that it will fix a lot of errors on defence. I think that is the main thing, we must be more dominant at slowing the ball down so that we can get set and get off the line.”

Fast starts

In games that the Lions have gotten off to fast starts, they have generally done well and gone on to get good wins, although that wasn’t the case in their first tour match against Cardiff, when they scored first, but went on to lose 20-17.

But in impressive wins over the Stormers and Sharks at Ellis Park, it was strong starts that set them up for top results against their local rivals.

Against the Stormers the Lions ran in three first half tries to lead 24-6 at the break, which helped them to a 30-23 win in the end, while against the Sharks a sixth minute opening score set them on their way to a 19-0 halftime lead and 38-14 bonus point victory.

Despite those positives Horn believes they also have much to work on in attack, with them leaving plenty points out on the field that prove costly, as was shown in the Cardiff loss and Sharks defeat in Durban, both matches they could have won.

“We need to be more accurate and when we get an opportunity we need to come away with points. Recently we manage to get there (into the red zone) and then make an error or lose the ball and we don’t get points,” said Horn.

“We also have to execute the plan that the coaches set for us. So it’s not a massive fix, and I believe we just have to be better and more focused.”