Lions chasing more seven-pointers
The Lions may be on a four-match winning streak, but it is tries they desire to add to their already impressive resume.
Having scored just 11 tries in their first nine matches – before last week's bye – coach Johan Ackermann said it is time for the team to start turning the many opportunities they create into points.
Speaking to rugby365 ahead of their Round 11 Super Rugby encounter with the Cheetahs in Johannesburg on Saturday, Ackermann said they will be looking to improve on the standards set in the first half of the season.
However, the key would be to finish off more of the opportunities they create.
"Against the Sharks [a 23-21 win in the last match before the bye] we almost lost the game in the end, and there were a number of opportunities we created but did not turn into points," the Lions mentor said.
"We are aware that we have some very big games ahead of us, against tough teams, starting with the Cheetahs," adding that the men from Bloemfontein are not a team to be underestimated.
He listed good defence, as well as the commitment and intensity with which they played among the positives from their first nine weeks.
In games against the Blues, Bulls and Sharks they were behind, but the players never gave up – they retained their composure.
One of the big negatives is that the Lions were not always consistent enough.
"Obviously we want to score more tries," he told rugby365, adding: "That is certainly an aspect of our game that can improve.
"The other aspect is maintaining our concentration for 80 minutes.
"In the early rounds – against the Hurricanes and Stormers – we controlled the game for long periods. Even against the Sharks we had control.
"Then one bad scrum, one poor line-out or a lapse in concentration allowed the opposition back into the game.
"We know we have not produced the perfect performance yet and there is plenty to improve."
While most teams would take an ugly win ahead of an attractive loss, Ackermann is adamant his team should be scoring more tries.
"We understand that Super Rugby is a much higher level of intensity than the Currie Cup competition," he said.
"Obviously if you win five, six or seven games by just one point and only scored one or two tries, then I'll take it.
"However, that is not the brand of rugby we want to play – we want to play exciting and entertaining rugby.
"As an example, against the Sharks we had 16 linebreaks, while they only had five or six. We didn't finish those off and turn them into points. As a result, we almost lost the game.
"We are just not clinical enough.
"If you get three points [a penalty] and it helps you to win the game you take it, but we seek an outcome where we get the seven pointer."
Ackermann said last week's bye came just at the right time, after nine exhausting weeks.
They now have a stretch of seven more games, before getting their next bye only in the final week of league action, Round 18.
"We still have a lot of games to come, so hopefully we can keep the best guys on the field," he said – confirming that veteran lock Martin Muller (calf strain) is the only major injury setback among the frontline players.
Mark Richards (concussion), Courtnall Skosan (ankle), Sampie Mastriet (ankle) and Nicolaas Hanekom (knee) have all been cleared and are available for selection for either the Lions Super Rugby or Golden Lions Vodacom Cup teams.
Ackermann said a number of players needed last week's break.
"Especially guys like Warren [Whiteley], Lionel Mapoe and Franco Mostert – they have played the full game in all nine matches," he said, adding: "We needed to get them fresh and hungry for the game again.
"We took the whole week off last week and only started training on Monday again."
By Jan de Koning
@King365ed
@rugby365com
