Bok warns Stormers of Lions' attacking weapon
SPOTLIGHT: Springbok prop Frans Malherbe has warned the Stormers not to underestimate the Lions’ pack prowess.
The Stormers have suffered back-to-back home defeats to the Sharks (30-33) and the Bulls (16-20).
The Stormers’ current form is a major concern given they only have four games left in the domestic leg of the competition.
The Cape Town side came agonisingly close to victories, however, ill-discipline against the Sharks and individual errors along with a troubling line-out saw them stumble against Bulls.
In both games, the Stormers scrums were solid, however, this weekend the Cape side will face a stern opponent in the shape of the Lions.
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“Every team has its own identity, especially when it comes to scrummaging and the Lions have a highly respected pack and I have to give them credit,” Springbok Malherbe said during a virtual press conference.
“They have guys who work hard and have good discipline at scrum time.
“I think they have grown [as a team] and as a pack they scrum well as a unit, so we’ll have to be ready on Saturday,”
In terms of the line-out, Malherbe added: “We’ve worked hard on [contesting line-outs] after the defeat to the Bulls. It’s a mixture of taking the right options and executing that option to the best of our ability.
“We’ll work on it the rest of the week as well and hopefully we take all the right options and execute them.”
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To make things more challenging for the Stormers, the Lions have received a timely boost as it was reported that Springbok forward Willem Alberts will return from an injury lay-off.
“[Albert] will add a lot of experience to their pack, “Stormers assistant coach Norman Laker said.
“He is a phenomenal player who’s played quite a few Test matches for South Africa. So he will bring calmness and his ball-carrying ability is phenomenal.”
He added: “Preparation wise I don’t think we need to change much, we’ve spoken to the guys in team meetings and we’re sure we’re ready for it.
“We can only prepare for what we’ve seen from the Lions in the past couple of games. They are different, but also not that much different.
“The team is still quite similar, so I don’t think they’ll change too much from what they’ve done in the past couple of games.”
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