Young Lions No 9 ‘Krappies’ ready to grab his chance

The Lions are not feeling the heat after going down to the Sharks in their opening Super Rugby Unlocked game in Durban last weekend, said livewire scrumhalf Morne “Krappies” van den Berg.

Van den Berg came off the bench early in the first half for Dillon Smit in the 19-16 loss to the Sharks, but made the most of his opportunity in producing a quality performance.

For the unlucky Smit, who was in top form in the Lions two “pre-season” matches, it meant the end of his season after he dislocated his shoulder. He is expected to be out for between four and six months having undergone surgery this week.

Having picked up just the one log point in Durban, though, Van den Berg said it was still far too soon for there to be talk of the Lions being under pressure to win, starting with this weekend’s trip to Cape Town for a date with the Stormers.

“We didn’t perform to the best of our ability against the Sharks (last weekend), but for now it is a matter of performing well each week. We will think about the the other part of the competition (when the Currie Cup arrives) later on.

“As a team I think we are in a good space, and I know we are just going to get better.”

The nippy halfback was in the face of Sharks star Sanele Nohamba the entire game, while he posed questions with his sniping breaks around the fringes and even won two breakdowns.

“I was happy with my game but there is a lot to still work on,” he said.

Van den Berg, who has been behind the likes of Ross Cronje, Andre Warner and Smit at the Lions in the last year or so, said he worked on a number of areas of his game during the lockdown time and in some areas it has paid dividends.

“I worked a lot on my kicking game in the ‘off-season’ but I felt it didn’t really come off for me in Durban,” he said. “But this week it’s about going back to basics for me and hopefully things will be better in that regard.”

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