VIDEO: Home win 'not good enough' for Lions
The Lions main have retained their winning start to the Currie Cup with a 25-13 win over a gritty Griquas team at an empty Ellis Park at the weekend.
After three rounds, the Lions sit pretty at the top of the standings, on 13 points – the same as the second-placed Bulls, and the only other unbeaten team, but ahead on points difference.
However, for coach Mziwakhe Nkosi it was “far from a satisfactory performance”.
In front of a threadbare crowd of what appeared no more than a few hundred, the Lions outscored the visitors by three tries to two in a sloppy display.
The win is based on 10 points scored while Griquas were down to 13 men – locks Athenkosi Khetani and Derik Pretorius were yellow-carded for cynical fouls.
Griquas dominated possession (59 percent) and territory (55 percent).
The Lions’ set pieces, despite a couple of scrum penalties, while the visitors were down two tight forwards, were not up to standard – their scrums and line-outs barely function at an 80 percent success rate.
Of further concern will be the 17 penalties, 25 missed tackles (85 percent tackle success) and eight turnovers lost.
“A win is a win,” Nkosi said, adding: “We will take it.”
(WATCH as Lions coach Mziwakhe Nkosi explains the reasons for his dissatisfaction, despite his team’s unbeaten start to the Currie Cup season….)
He explained that they ‘let themselves down’ in the middle part of the game – racing into a 12-0 lead by the end of the first quarter, but then allowed Griquas to close the gap to just two points (13-15), before two yellow cards in quick succession around the hour mark.
“We have a few things to work on before facing the Sharks here at home [Ellis Park,” he said of the Round Four face-off next Saturday, July 27.
“We let Griquas back into the game.
“We were not accurate in terms of our execution and some 22-metre entries [opportunities inside the Griquas 22] that we didn’t take.
“Our discipline, as the game wore on, also let us down a bit.
“We will take the win and the four points.”
Nkosi said he expects the Sharks to be smarting after starting with three consecutive defeats – 25-26 to the Lions in Durban in Round One, 31-34 to Griquas in Kimberley and 21-31 to the Pumas in Durban at the weekend.
“They will feel like they owe us one,” he said of the Round One result between the two teams.
“We have to be up for it next week.
“Fortunately for us, it is at home [Ellis Park].
“We have to make the people of Johannesburg proud.”
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