Win play-off tickets

Abig task awaits Lions props Jacques van Rooyen and Ruan Dreyer in this weekend’s Super Rugby quarterfinal against the Sharks at Ellis Park.

They were under pressure at times from Thomas du Toit and Coenie Oosthuizen in last weekend’s 27-10 Lions win in Durban and coach Johan Ackermann said they need to fix that this week.

“We will have to go back and look at the penalties we gave away at scrum time and fix it,” said Ackermann.

“We have this week to rectify that and it’s about those small little things which you can’t overlook.”

Ackermann said it was one of the reasons why they couldn’t gain momentum last weekend which led to a stop-start affair.

Furthermore, Marius van der Westhuizen, who was the referee in charge last weekend, will again be the 31st man on the field.

“You can’t get momentum, you can’t put phases together, your backs can’t launch as well as they have to,” he said.

Another factor which could come into affect is that the Sharks could decide to field Curwin Bosch at either fullback or flyhalf and he is a player who can kick the ball a mile as he did when the Lions struggled to beat the Sharks 34-29 at Ellis Park earlier in the season.

“If you give a penalty away and they kick you down 30, 40, 50 metres, it means you have to defend again,” he said.

Ackermann also said there needs to be a major focus on soft areas like the easy try wing Kobus van Wyk scored after a 22m kickoff from flyhalf Elton Jantjies.

“There were soft moments like the try we gave away, which were unnecessary because you put yourself under pressure. So there’s a lot of things to work on for us,” he said.

Five readers can each win four tickets to watch the Lions take on the Sharks in the Super Rugby quarterfinals. Simply SMS the keyword LIONS followed by your full name, date of birth and suburb of residence to 33521. Kick-off is at 2:30pm on Saturday July 22 at Ellis Park. Competition closes at midnight tonight. Winners to collect tickets from in Johannesburg no later than Friday July 21 by 4pm. SMSs are charged at R1.50 each and errors will be billed. Free and bundle SMSs do not apply. T&Cs apply. By entering the competition, you accept

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