Lions brains trust take 2022 false start on the chin: ‘Blame us’

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Lions coaches Ivan van Rooyen and Albert van den Berg. (Photo by Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images)

The Lions coaching staff have laid the blame for the false start to the resumption of their URC campaign squarely at their own door. Forwards guru Albert van den Berg says the moments of waywardness against the Sharks are down to communicating a proper game-plan and that lies with them. He is non-committal over whether the Lions will target the Bulls’ wonky scrum this weekend.

While there are myriad sporting fans around the world who believe coaches are sometimes unfairly punished for poor results driven by their players, you won’t find such thinking at the Lions.

In fact, the glut of so-called soft moments that hampered the men from Ellis Park in a clumsy 37-47 United Rugby Championship defeat to the Sharks have been laid squarely at the door of the team’s brains trust … at their own behest .

“We had a good at ourselves as coaches and where we dropped the ball,” said Frank Albert van den Berg, the Lions’ forwards guru.

“We went to the players and told them that all those wayward moments come from preparation, from everyone being on the same page.”

There was indeed evidence that the Lions – who were South Africa’s top ranked representative in the competition before last weekend’s fixtures – deviated from a more balanced game that had served them well and instead tried to play too instinctively against a Bok-laden opponent that feasts on mistakes.

“We are the guys that have to ensure that everyone understands the game’s strategy and making sure that we stick to the plan,” said Van den Berg.

“You obviously have to also play what’s in front of you, but there are times in a match where you simply have to build an innings so to speak and do something that’s out of the ‘norm’.

“There was one incident where the score was 18-20 and we took a quick tap that actually worked against us. We have some senior players that have to make the calls for us on the field and that means they need to take ownership and judge what the plan is.

“Nonetheless, we’ve done our homework as coaches and we’ve realized everything starts with us. We spend time on plans that are carried over to the players.”

One of the strategies that the Lions may specifically use against the vulnerable Bulls – their opponents at home on Saturday – is to target an off-color scrum that could be further weakened by a depth squeeze at tighthead.

Yet Van den Berg is wary of targeting a single facet of the game despite his team’s traditional pedigree at the set-piece.

“It’s difficult to say if it’s a specific area we’re looking at,” he said.

“We have a good scrum and we’re in a position to take them on there. But one can never underestimate the Bulls. It’s the first time they’ve lost at Loftus for a very long time and they’ll be hurting.

“They’re a superb team with a particularly good pack. If we can take advantage in any facet, we’ll look to take it but we’ll have to see.”

Kick-off in Doornfontein is at 15:00.

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