‘Adaptability’ is the key word for the Lions ahead of Glasgow Warriors clash

Adaptability is one of the key focus points for the Lions this week in the build-up to their important United Rugby Championship (URC) match against Glasgow Warriors in Scotland on Saturday night.

The Lions fell to a disappointing three-point defeat to Cardiff in Wales over the past weekend despite dominating in most facets of play.

Much of that came down to them being unable to adapt when things weren’t going their way, especially with their kick defence, and also on attack where they were blunted despite having plenty of possession and territory.

At a press conference on Tuesday afternoon Lions scrum coach Julian Redelinghuys said that the team was working hard on being able to adapt to changing conditions and game plans ahead of the Glasgow game.

“For us the learnings that we need to work on are playing with or against the wind, or whether it is dry or wet conditions. Because they (Cardiff) played the way that we expected them to,” explained Redelinghuys.

“But in the moment, they were kicking into the wind and the kicks ended up being shorter than we thought. So we weren’t catching the ball out of the air and it was a confusing space between the front guys and the back guys.

“In the end we didn’t adapt early enough. If we want to play well against Glasgow this weekend and they do come up with different strategies or the weather changes, the ability for us to adapt earlier and better will be the most important thing, and we have to be ready for that.”

Costly losses

Over the past three URC seasons, the Lions have had a match where they really should have won, but didn’t, which has in the end cost them a place in the top eight come the end of the season, and led to them missing out on the playoffs.

Redelinghuys was asked if the Cardiff game was one of those, but said: “There have been a couple of games like that this season already. But that is past now. What we have ahead is five games left in the round robin and we have to give ourselves a good opportunity.

“One away game against Glasgow and four home games. So it is important for us to refocus, put the frustration behind us from this game (Cardiff) and the others that we felt we let ourselves down, and now just focus on the coming five games.”

Speaking about the Cardiff defeat, Redelinghuys said there was plenty for the team to work on over the week after a poor irritating performance and that they would be looking to come back stronger against Glasgow.

“It was a really frustrating game and unfortunate result for us. Even though we didn’t play and do what we wanted to, we still had an opportunity to win at the end and couldn’t get it over the line,” said Redelinghuys.

“So there is a lot to fix this week and I am sure the guys will respond really well after this past weekend’s disappointment.”