Decaying Lions call up reinforcements
INJURY UPDATE: The idiom suggests you ‘add insult to injury’. For the Lions it is the antipodean.
First, the Rebels wounded the already battered Lions’ pride further by dismissing them 37-17 in their Round Six Super Rugby outing in Melbourne at the weekend.
The result leaves the Johannesburg-based side winless from their first two matches of their four-game Australasian tour – following their defeat last week to the Waratahs in Sydney.
In the first three rounds, they lost 8-38 to Jaguares in Buenos Aires, beat the Reds 27-20 in Johannesburg lost 30-33 to the Stormers in Johannesburg – leaving them floating outside the top 10 in the competition.
The Rebels outscored the South African visitors by five tries to two in Melbourne at the weekend, while the Lions struggled in the line-outs and conceded too many penalties and turnovers.
The Lions confirmed that they suffered a number of injuries in the humiliating loss.
As a result, they have called up Duncan Matthews, to join the team for the New Zealand leg of the tour – where they will face Blues in Auckland and the Highlanders in Dunedin.
Wing Jamba Ulengo suffered a severe quad contusion and will have to pass fitness test later in the week.
Utility Wandisile Simelane, who started in the midfield in Melbourne, suffered a Grade I MCL tear in his right knee.
He is likely to miss the Auckland outing, but it is expected that the injury will settle by the Highlanders match.
His progress will be assessed later in the week.
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While coach Ivan van Rooyen is happy to punt the ‘rebuilding phase’ as part of the problem, captain Elton Jantjies is not willing to use it as an excuse.
“It is easy to use that as an excuse,” Jantjies told a post-match media briefing in Melbourne.
“This [Super Rugby] is a man’s game and it is not for kids,” he added.
“We will have to put this [loss] behind us and move forward.
“We will have to learn as quick as possible, because this is [like] Test rugby. This is not a normal provincial competition.
“You’re playing against quality players every single week. You have to get your body ready, your mindset ready and obviously the plans.
“We have to grow up quickly and realise that this is a brutal competition.
“This is one of the best competitions in the world and we’re going to have to reset, go through the game and make sure that Monday we can put this behind us and focus on the Blues.”
@rugby365com
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