Lions eager to fix unacceptable Glasgow loss against Edinburgh

The Lions are aiming to bounce back from a dreadful 42-0 United Rugby Championship (URC) loss against Glasgow Warriors over the past weekend with a big performance in their Challenge Cup last 16 clash against Edinburgh on Friday night.

It was a dismal performance from the Lions as they were run completely ragged by the Scottish URC defending champs, and they are desperate to not repeat the trick against their close rivals just down the road.

The Lions have received a boost by the arrival of Springbok scrumhalf Morne van den Berg, who missed out on their two URC tour games, a loss against Cardiff and the past weekend’s hammering, with a thumb injury he picked up in their loss against the Sharks last month.

He admitted that the team had taken a hard look at themselves after an unacceptable performance against Glasgow, and that they were putting in the work to change that for the coming match.

“The loss to Glasgow felt personal for every guy in the squad, whether you played or not. We all have had to take a hard look at ourselves and reflect where we are mentally, what it means to play for the Lions, and what playing every game means to us,” explained Van Den Berg.

“We all accept that the result was unacceptable. It’s a mindset thing. We can’t go from being a good team a few weeks ago, beating the Sharks (38-14 at Ellis Park), to now being a very, very bad team after the losses to Glasgow and Cardiff. We know we are better than that.

“The reaction this week has been strong, and we are ready to put in the work.”

Inconsistency problems

Inconsistency has been the biggest problem for the Lions over the past few seasons, and they have shown it again over the past few months, as evidenced by a run of games that have shown the very best and worst of them.

In the URC in February they picked up a good 30-23 win over the Stormers at Ellis Park, but followed that up with a 31-19 loss against the Bulls at Loftus.

The bounced back from that with a brilliant 38-14 hammering of the Sharks on the Highveld, and then almost upset them on their home turf but eventually went down 25-22 in Durban.

Despite having decent momentum from that run, the Lions went on tour but couldn’t sustain it, as they lost to Cardiff in a match they really should have won, and then suffered their blowout against Glasgow.

“We all have to take personal responsibility. Francke Horn (Lions captain) spoke well about focus and how the best players in the world never lose it,” explained Van den Berg on how the squad was trying to fix their inconsistency.

“This season, we’ve switched off at the wrong times, conceding soft tries and letting momentum slip. We have to stay in the moment, be disciplined, and respond properly to what’s asked of us.”