‘We need to be better,’ says Lions coach Pieterse ahead of Dragons tussle

Lions assistant coach Barend Pieterse says the team have to improve drastically if they want to secure the win needed for them to progress to the next round of the Challenge Cup, when they host Dragons at Ellis Park on Saturday.

The Lions fell to a disappointing 28-5 defeat against Montpellier in France last weekend, which meant they now face a must win shootout against the Welsh side, with the winner progressing to the last 16 of the competition.

Both the Lions and Dragons have won just one of their first three games, leaving them locked on five points each, with the Dragons just ahead of them on the log on points difference.

A win for either side will thus be enough to send them through as the fourth and final qualifier from the pool, and Pieterse explained that they have to put in a better showing if they want to be the one to walk away with the result needed.

Much better

“We need to be much better. I think we disappointed ourselves and obviously our supporters, because we really went there (to France) with the mindset to come away with a win,” said Pieterse.

“So we disappointed ourselves from the beginning. There were also errors in the game that we don’t normally make. So we are very happy to be back at Ellis Park. We had our first training here today (Tuesday).

“You can see it in the mood of the players that it is just good to have everyone back together again at home and we are looking forward to the match.”

Pieterse said the team had gone through a thorough review of the match against Montpellier, and that the players were excited to get back on the field and fix the wrongs from a disjointed performance.

Although the Lions have just one win so far, at home against French side Section Paloise, while losing to Ospreys and Montpellier on the road, they will be confident of getting a win over Dragons, who they have never lost to, and beat in the United Rugby Championship in Wales earlier this season.

“The mood in the camp is really good after a tough review session (of the Montpellier game). If you ask any player they will tell you it was a really tough and straightforward review and they are looking forward to making things right,” admitted Pieterse.

“We haven’t done ourselves any favours, not just in this past weekend’s game, but in our other EPCR games as well, in not picking up more points. So we are focused on getting our five points this weekend and then we will see what happens.”