No log pressure for Lions
The Lions, propping up the Super Rugby table yet again, are not about to heap additional pressure on themselves by focusing on their position in the standings.
Even though it appears – at least in some cases – the players are riding on the crest of last year's successes, coach Johan Ackermann is not concerned that his team is doomed this season.
Ackermann, speaking to rugby365 ahead of his team's Round Three encounter with the table-topping Stormers, said they are not about to start worrying about their position on the log and the results.
"We have to go into every week in a positive frame of mind and fix the mistakes [of the previous week]," the Lions mentor said.
"We can only focus on the next game. If we start worrying about winning this game or that game you will get distracted from the plan in terms of what we are trying to achieve.
"We are obviously disappointed with the results of the first two weeks, especially in Week One [against the Hurricanes] when we did everything to win, but still fell short.
"This past weekend [against the Sharks] we were simply just not good enough," he said, adding: "We are more disappointed in our own processes and standards and we have to fix that first, before we can start worrying about results."
Ackermann felt his team is facing a very different kind of pressure from last year, when there was no expectations after a year out of Super Rugby to accommodate the Southern Kings in 2013.
"Last year the supporters were happy every we won a game," he told rugby365, adding: "This year there is that expectation that we should win."
He said the players don't lack confidence, but they may riding on the crest of last year's success.
"When we do our analysis, you can see we are competitive for the best part of the match. However, we then have some soft moments when we gift the opposition easy points.
"Aspects of the game we were good in last year, we just took for granted [in the first two weeks] and the players are disappointed in themselves for that reason.
"They realise that if we put together an 80-minute performance and we bring it up to the standards we expect of ourselves then we can perform against any team.
"We know we can't ride on last year's reputation and successes.
"We do believe in our players and we know they can do it, as they did it last year.
"The reality is we will continue to face teams with more Springboks and more All Blacks in, that are more experienced.
"We do believe we can compete against the best, but then we will require 23 players all on top of their game.
"You can't rely on just 11, 12 or 14 players – in this competition that won't bring you success."
The coach also felt that his team's strengths, the set pieces, are not bringing them the same value as 2014 because technically they were just not good enough.
"It was a wet surface and the positioning of our feet were just not good enough," he said of last Saturday's loss to the Sharks.
"Against the Hurricanes [in week one] we got plenty of reward in terms of scrum penalties, and we had no problems – with the exception of the very last scrum.
"The Sharks, on the day, were simply better than us and we have worked on that.
"We know we have to lift our game this week."
By Jan de Koning
@King365ed
@rugby365com
