Lions want quality, not quantity
The luxury of having already booked their spot in the play-offs has given Lions coach John Mitchell an advantage that makes him the envy of other Currie Cup mentors.
Not only can he give his fringe players a run – invaluable game time – against the Springbok-laden Sharks, but defeat in Saturday’s Currie Cup showdown in Durban will be meaningless.
Despite facing a Sharks team that includes six World Cup Boks, Mitchell is convinced that resting some of his most overworked stars is in the best interest of the table-topping Lions team.
He is not in the least concerned that the Lions risk losing momentum ahead of next week’s semifinals – in which the Lions will host the fourth-placed team, most likely to be Western Province (although the Blue Bulls and Griquas have an outside chance of sneaking into the top four).
That is why he feels the quality of the performance, rather that the quantity in the scoreboard, is what is important in Durban.
“It is important to finish off the league stages with a good performance,” he said, adding that defeat in Durban would have no bearing at all on the play-offs.
“We’ve earned the right to host the play-offs already, so it is important for us to prepare our [matchday] 22 for knock-out rugby,” Mitchell told this website.
“We selected the core of our team, but we also named some replacements in starting positions. The reason is that should they be required for next week’s semifinal, it is important that they have some game time .
“It has also allowed us to lighten the load on some of the players who have carried the bulk of it – a lot of those guys are on the bench, so it is still a very strong mix.”
He felt the final scoreline in Durban is irrelevant.
“All this [match] does is it brings closure to the league season and we start a different competition [the play-offs] next week,” Mitchell said.
“It is important to get a good performance, so it is important to play well.
“If we win, that’s great. If we fall short, but play well, that is just as important.
“At the end of the day the log positions reward four teams for being the most consistent and then you are into a new competition … it will basically be a loss that is meaningless.”
By Jan de Koning
