Dillyn Leyds’ performance had Springbok written all over it
This year’s Super Rugby competition has emphasised the fact that when one team pitches up with their eye off the ball and the opposition is razor sharp, a blow-out can ensue. And the following week, the team that copped the hiding often bounces back with a performance that leaves spectators wondering “Where did that come from?” We have seen it with the Sharks often enough, including the fortnight which saw them take 50 from the Rebels only to then smack the Blues at Eden Park. This weekend it was the Reds who bounced back from an embarrassing performance against the Sunwolves to almost beat the Hurricanes in Wellington on Friday.
Leyds the silver lining to Stormers cloud
Dillyn Leyds would have not known whether to laugh or cry after his team sunk to a despairing defeat to the Sunwolves on Saturday. His performance was brilliant and had Springbok written all over it. The first of his two tries will surely challenge for Try of the Season. It had everything in it – pace to break out of his own half, a dummy to throw defenders off course, flair to run inside and outside flyhalf Hayden Parker and exceptional agility to ground the ball at the corner flag, with his body in the air outside the touchline. Shoddy Sharks must clean up their act The Sharks continue to deliver performances that are both error-ridden and excellent. For every slick, patient attacking move that often includes neat offloading and strong support play, there is either a schoolboy handling error or a lapse in discipline. Coach Robert du Preez can be forgiven for his exasperation. The Sharks did all their pre-season training conditioning with ball in hand and every week the coach preaches the merit of good discipline. And yet the errors mount, as do the cards and – especially the high tackles. The Sharks will not be contenders until they become more clinical. Akker aiming for higher honours The Angry Warthog is hitting the form of his life now that he is a regular starter in the Sharks front row. For the second consecutive week, he has made a strong statement to Bok coach Rassie Erasmus, who has been forced to re-look at his hooker options after the injury to Malcolm Marx. Akker van der Merwe was the man of the match at Loftus – even if many felt it should have gone to Warrick Gelant – and at the weekend he popped up all over the show, making himself a general nuisance to the Chiefs. He ripped ball out of the hands of Chiefs players, made line breaks like a centre and even threw a dummy that made the try for flyhalf Robert du Preez. Jaguares the team to beat The Lions may be log leaders and can’t be overhauled before the June break, but the form team in the SA conference right now are the Jaguares. The Argentinians backed up their four wins in Australasia with a big win over the Bulls in Buenos Aires. The Lions were not impressive in beating a Brumbies team that was at one stage down to 13 men. The Lions will know that they will have to pull up their socks if they are to hold off the Jaguares on the log. The Jaguares play most of their remaining games at home, continuing this week against the Sharks. THE LIONS know they didn’t tick every box against the Brumbies on Saturday, but they still scored six tries and won, fairly comfortably, in the end. And, that’s all that matters, according to coach Swys de Bruin.
“It’s a tough competition... we’ve all seen how the teams beat one another. Things aren’t just going to happen every time, you’re not going to run through teams all the time, and score tries and give highfives,” he said after the 42-24 victory at Ellis Park. “We scored six tries and we’re still top of the SA Conference... and we’re very happy about that.”
And, De Bruin is spot on. His team may not be sweeping all-comers aside like they did last year – when they finished top of the pile – but they’re getting the business done, and right now enjoy a seven-point lead atop the SA Conference. The Lions have 36 points, while the Jaguares have 29 points.
But the Lions know if they keep on scoring tries they’re going to win more often than they lose. And, boy, are they scoring tries. They were pretty poor and error-ridden in most areas against the Brumbies on Saturday, with the back division especially disappointing in the way they attacked the gain-line, yet De Bruin’s men still crossed the whitewash on six occasions. Three of those tries came via driving mauls.
“It was a gamble to play with a new midfield (Rohan Janse van Rensburg and Aphiwe Dyantyi), but it was a forced move because Lionel (Mapoe) and Harold (Vorster) were out, but we know if it doesn’t work with the backs, we can change and play with the forwards. We scored three great maul tries and knew we had them under the pump there, so we kept on. Well done to them, and coach Philip Lemmer,” De Bruin said.
The Lions are not concerned how the tries come – via the backs or the forwards, as long as they come. And, so far they’ve dotted down 64 times in 13 games; that’s on average of 4.9 tries per game.
De Bruin & Co though fully realise they have to tighten up their game, especially with three big derbies coming up. They play the Stormers at Newlands this weekend, before the June international break and then return afterwards for clashes with the Sharks and Bulls.
Franco Mostert said there was a lot to do before they could travel to Cape Town and be ready for the Stormers, who are coming off a shock loss to the Sunwolves. “We’ll go back to the training ground and work on the things that didn’t come off today. We have to reset, and fix a lot of things,” Mostert said.
The Lions will be desperate to keep their long-running unbeaten record against South African opposition intact when they travel to the Cape this week and the good news is there are no new injury concerns in the camp. And Mapoe and Vorster could be cleared to play after missing out at the weekend, while all SA fans will be hoping Warren Whiteley gets the all-clear to return to the playing field, too.