VIDEO: The three fundamentals behind the Lions' upsurge
WATCH as Lions coach Ricardo Loubscher explains the three pillars that have helped the Lions up their performance this season.
Loubscher is the backline, attack and skills coach at the Lions and very experienced in his field. Following his retirement, the former Springbok and Blitzbok moved into coaching.
He was the attack and backline for the Springboks under Heyneke Meyer between 2012 and 2015 and then linked up with the Sharks.
He had a stint with Stade Francais during the 2019/20 season before joining the Lions coaching staff in September 2021.
Loubscher was asked why the Lions have suddenly emerged as a team that has not lost a game without a bonus point while they have recorded some sterling victories as well.
“I think for me firstly it’s about continuity with the squad and coaches and secondly just around clarity on how we want to play the game,” Loubscher said.
“And thirdly we had a great pre-season where we could really work on out fitness, all the fundamentals, the style we want to play.
“It’s a lot of things, but those three stand out for me.”
Scrumhalf Morné van den Berg weighed in on the topic as a longstanding member of the Lions. He has been part of the Lions set-up since his schooling days at Linden Hoërskool that he represented since 2013.
“It’s our third season as a squad and coaching staff and the continuity has been building. We have been forming bonds on and off the field and we hope now it’s the start of an upwards curve,” the nugity scrumhalf said.
“We haven’t lost a game without a bonus point yet this season. From the start of the season we have been climbing and we are going to keep climbing and going forward and hopefully getting more wins. And building on the momentum we have at the moment.
“I think it’s been coming for a while and we are only starting to see it now,” he predicted.
Talking about the ugly win against Perpignan over the weekend, Loubscher said it was the right game plan, although he admitted although not attractive, it was winning rugby.
“All the French teams like to counter attack. So our plan was to turn them around, put the ball behind them and use our defence as a weapon.
“Luckily for us we got away with a good result. I think the plan to send a different squad worked well for us.
“We basically had two, three days to prep. The boys must get the credit, to come together and gel as a team so quickly, travel for I don’t know how many hours and get the result, we are happy with that.
Van den Berg, although not part of the squad that travelled to Perpignan, agreed.
“I think we went there with the right mindset. We played in their half, we isolated them, they made the mistakes and we took the points.
“We as players have to adapt, especially with the new competition, traveling to Europe, it’s not the same conditions you get here on the Highveld, so to be a successful team and a successful squad you have to able to adapt and I think the boys did it very well.
