Lions unpack Edinburgh threats on artificial turf
The Lions are gearing for their biggest challenge on tour, when they face a near-full-strength international team in Edinburgh on Friday.
However, it is a confident outfit that will take to the field in the Scottish capital in Round Four of the United Rugby Championship.
Last season the Lions started with an impressive 38-26 win over Zebre in Parma, but then lost their way – suffering losses to Scarlets (13-36), Glasgow (9-13) and Ulster (10-26).
In stark contrast, this season, they started with a loss – 15-31, to the Bulls, at Ellis Park.
That was followed by impressive away wins over Ospreys (28-27) and Cardiff (31-18).
The Lions’ backline and attack coach Ricardo Loubscher spoke of the ‘great momentum’ his team has built up with the back-to-back wins in Wales.
“There is a nice buzz in the camp,” he told @rugby365com, adding: “There is an alignment in terms of how we want to play.”
Turning to their final tour assignment, the assistant coach said the kicking battle will again be a ‘point of difference’ – as it was in Cardiff last week.
“They bring a lot of line speed,” Loubscher said of Edinburgh, adding: “So for us the key is how we deal with that line speed on attack.”
With rain again predicted for Friday’s outing, accuracy will be key on the artificial turf of the Edinburgh Stadium.
In such challenging conditions, as they proved in Cardiff last week, “playing without the ball” is going to be key – putting a premium on defence.
“It sounds like a cliche, but playing in the right areas of the field is important.
“In the second half [against Cardiff] we created a lot of opportunities through our kicking game and on the back of our defence.
“We are happy with the way we are going with our attack.
“If the weather allows it, we will have a go.”
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Loose forward Francke Horn also spoke of the “alignment between senior players and the coaching staff.
And they are not going to divert from what is clearly a “successful plan”.
Speaking of their next assignment, taking on Edinburgh in the Scottish capital, Horn admitted the challenge is not getting easier against the star-studded opponents.
The starting XV that featured against the Stormers in Cape Town this past weekend was a fully-loaded international XV – all of them Scotland capped, including South African-born props Willem Nel and Pierre Schoeman.
“Coming back from South Africa, there may be a touch of travel fatigue,” he said, adding: “They are back at home and they are a very tough team to beat in Edinburgh.”
Horn said the turnaround came after the opening round loss to the Bulls, when the forwards had some introspection and acknowledged they fell short.
“We realised we had to make a big step up on tour, knowing the conditions we will be facing.
“The weather this Friday will be similar, so it won’t change much for us.”
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