Emotional Lions in 'survival' mode ahead of Glasgow meeting
SPOTLIGHT: Assistant coach Wessel Roux insists the Lions will enter their final tour match in survival mode after facing a different set of challenges over the past couple of weeks.
The Lions will conclude their European tour on Friday against the Glasgow Warriors in Round Five of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship at Scotstoun Stadium.
It has been an incredibly tough tour for the Johannesburg-based side, both on and off the field, following the death of lock Hyron Andrews a fortnight ago.
The Lions suffered a 10-31 defeat against Edinburgh last week, their third loss in all competitions this season.
Speaking to the media on Tuesday, Roux said the side is still hurting but working hard to rebuild its confidence.
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“We knew it was going to be difficult to recover after the La Rochelle week and what happened there,” he said.
“We knew Edinburgh was going to be really difficult to focus on. It felt like a perfect storm where a lot of different factors just kind of met and created a difficult place to survive, think, thrive, and play rugby.
“This weekend, we’re looking to try and be our best selves and to try and play the rugby we can play, just to really fight for belief and confidence and just kind of surviving through the difficult tour we’ve had.”
Roux also said the side has been training well in preparation for Glasgow.
While life goes on after the tragedy, Roux admits it is impossible to simply forget what happened.
“Everybody has reacted towards the tragedy in a different way.
“Our training and preparations have been good. We’ve tried to really focus on what the job is and how to go forward.
“But it’s madness to think that we can forget about something that happened to us about 10 days ago. That’s impossible.”
The Lions will need to be at their utmost best to upset an unbeaten Glasgow outfit on home soil.
Roux, who described Franco Smith’s side as ‘exceptional’, understands what lies ahead for the Lions’ forward pack, in particular.
While their scrum held up well against Edinburgh, the lineout misfired at times, and the lack of accuracy in that department cost the Lions.
Improving accuracy at set piece time will be a key focus ahead of Friday’s showdown.
“We want to create set-piece pressure, and that’s obviously through lineouts, mauling and scrums.
“Sometimes it doesnt work, or a certain aspect of it doesnt work, and that’s just how rugby is.
“If I look back at when we played the All Blacks, we had a 100% success rate from a lineout perspective. Against the Bulls, we scored two maul tries, so it has been working.
“We’re trying to get to that place where the pack as a whole is functioning and putting pressure on the opposition.”
Roux also confirmed that lock Etienne Oosthuizen will be available for selection after leaving the field with an injury against Edinburgh last week.
