Lions assistant coach Ricardo Loubscher believes the team aren't far off getting their first win of the season.
Despite a dreadful start to the season, the Lions believe that just one win can get them up and running, and they are targeting that in their first home match of the United Rugby Championship (URC) campaign against Scarlets at Ellis Park on Saturday.
The Lions suffered three losses on their overseas tour, against Cardiff, Zebre and Benetton, and are sitting second bottom of the log after three rounds.
Only their match against Zebre was a close affair, with them losing in the dying moments, but their most recent game was a record 41-15 defeat to Benetton over the past weekend, and they somehow need to pick themselves up from that.
Win needed
Lions assistant coach Ricardo Loubscher, however, believes the team just need a win to get their campaign going, and that they showed more than enough positive signs on tour to be able to do that, with just their execution lacking.
“When we analysed our games, we are getting excited about the opportunities we are creating and the pictures we are showing. It’s just the execution that is lacking,” explained Loubscher.
“Especially against Benetton. We created so many opportunities, but we just couldn’t execute. We had a few cross kicks into space, Angelo (Davids) over the line knocking the ball on, and then we identified five plus mauls that we didn’t execute.
“As you know momentum plays a big role in a team. Sometimes you just need that one point win to get that confidence and momentum going, and when it’s not happening you almost have to restart.
“But the energy is good, we can’t wait for Saturday. It’s nice to be back home, sleeping in your own bed. We know it is going to be tough, Scarlets bring a different challenge. Defensively they challenge you in a different way, so from an attack point of view we need to make plans to handle that.”
More physicality
Another important factor for the Lions going into the match against the Welsh side who beat them at Ellis Park five months ago, is upping their physicality, which is something they have struggled with so far this season.
“There was a big discussion (about it). It was not just about the Benetton game. Even for the Scarlets game, we have talked about punch,” admitted Loubscher.
“We feel, in terms of how we launch and where we are getting momentum, we are really happy with our physicality around that. Can we do better? Yes.
“Hopefully, after this Saturday, it is something we can talk about and say it was one of the positives we can take out of the game.”
The Lions will not have the services of Springbok scrumhalf Morne van den Berg for the Scarlets match, after he pulled up early with an injury against Benetton.
“Unfortunately he picked up a hamstring injury. But hopefully it’s not too serious. He isn’t available for this weekend, and we will only find out next week Monday if he’s available for Ulster,” said Loubscher.
