Honesty is humble Lions' best policy
Brutal honesty about the previous weekend's performance is what keeps the table-topping Lions grounded, despite an impressive four-match victory run – which has seen them score 188 points (an average of 47 per match) and 27 tries (almost seven per match).
Kriel, speaking to rugby365 ahead of their penultimate league fixture when they meet the Southern Kings in Johannesburg on Friday, admitted the 17-50 loss to the Hurricanes back in April was a "massive lesson" for the team.
"Not only as players, but as management as well, we realised that you have to be ready for anything and be switched on, on the day," the Lions skipper said.
However, after beating the Sharks 37-10 at the weekend – a result that saw them become the first team to book their place in the play-offs – the risk is always there that the team could lose focus.
However, the Lions believe you never have a perfect performance.
"As we've seen [at the weekend], we were great for about 50 to 60 minutes," he said of a period when the Lions raced into a 37-0 lead, only to allow the Sharks in for two consolation tries in the final 10 minutes.
"In our [weekly] video session we saw a number of things that we were not happy with," Kriel told rugby365, adding: "It is the coaching and management teams, when they do their analysis, that show us: Even though we had a [37-0] lead, there are still plenty to work on.
"You always focus on the aspects you can improve on.
"While it is great to win and take five points from a game, when you sit down on the Monday you have to be honest with yourself about the things that happened on matchday.
"These are things that the public don't necessary see, but the players and coaches pick up on.
"We know there are certain ways we want to implement things and what we can focus on and what we must improve.
"What keeps our feet on the ground is, on a Monday, when you analyse the game you see if you ran the wrong line or something in the set-up was wrong.
"It keeps the guys humble."
He added that because they are also a closely knit group of players, "brothers and a family", we keep each other humble.
"We know where our strength and wisdom comes from."
Kriel was very specific when asked what aspects of their game they were most concerned with.
"We had 20 line-breaks [against the Sharks] and scored only five tries. It [the strike rate] is just not good enough," the Lions skipper said.
"Those are the aspects we have to improve as we get closer to the play-offs.
"In the play-offs you won't get as many opportunities and you will have to make use of the opportunities you do get.
"In that regards we have a lot of work to do.
"Also, in the last 20 minutes our set pieces were not up to standard at all.
"A line-out that doesn't go to hand is also one of the small things you can't afford in a play-off match – good teams will punish you for those small errors."
He said they had looked each other in the eye and spoke honestly to each other about the aspects of their game the requires improvement.
By Jan de Koning
@King365ed
@rugby365com
