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Bok coaches to help save Lions’ 2022 season?
Having not won a game so far this year, the Lions have looked to the Springbok coaches for some guidance.
The Lions players talk in a huddle during last week’s United Rugby Championship match against Leinster. Picture: Seb Daly/Sportsfile/Gallo Images
The Lions rugby union have turned to the Springbok coaching team to help get their winless season back on track.
The two senior Lions sides have yet to win a rugby match in 2022 – losing all their United Rugby Championship games as well as Currie Cup matches.
Now they have turned to Bok boss Jacques Nienaber and some of his coaching team to “share knowledge” in an effort to get back on the winning track.
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Assistant Lions coach Ricardo Loubscher revealed on Tuesday that the Bok coaching team had visited the Lions earlier this week.
“It’s not so much about them telling us what to do, but more about them sharing knowledge with us, sharing information about how we go about things and getting feedback on certain players,” explained Loubscher.
“We’d tell them what’s working for us, what they believe could be better, and so on. It’s not a copy and paste thing … because everyone has different systems.
“It’s always nice to hear a difference voice, and perhaps there will be one or two ideas that can make a difference.”
The Lions’ URC side are coming off an away defeat to Irish club Leinster in Dublin, and this Sunday they face Cardiff in Joburg.
While the Lions lost in Dublin (21-13) they pushed one of the competition’s strongest teams all the way – something Loubscher said had given the players a lot of belief and confidence.
“There are not a lot of teams that go to Leinster and do that,” said the Lions backline coach.
“Now we must kick on. We obviously did a few things right last weekend. We have to take those positives and build on them, keep up the same good attitude we had last weekend.”
Like all the South African teams in action at home this weekend, the Lions will look to use the conditions on the highveld to their advantage against Cardiff.
“We’ll try and expose them in a few areas at altitude and with the style we want to bring to the game,” said Loubscher. “It’s all about having the right mindset.”
Sunday’s game at Ellis Park kicks off at 4pm.
