Whiteley: Lions can still improve
FINE RUN: THEY’VE NOT LOST TO LOCAL SIDES SINCE 2015
Skipper praises coach Swys de Bruin for innovative ideas.
Lions captain Warren Whiteley doesn’t believe they carry a burden on their backs after having maintained an unbeaten record for almost three years against fellow SA Super Rugby opposition.
The Lions opened their campaign with a grinding 26-19 win over the Sharks at Ellis Park last weekend which mean they have gone unbeaten in 18 games since late 2015.
After facing the Jaguares at Ellis Park this weekend, the Lions have another big local derby against the resurgent Bulls at Loftus Versfeld.
“The fact that we haven’t lost to another franchise locally in three years is not important, maybe for them but not for us,” said Whiteley.
“We focus solely on what we need to do, and what we want to achieve. You have to be careful when you start getting emotional about things. We certainly aren’t, for us it’s just business.”
There were some pleasing aspects in the narrow win over the Sharks, but Whiteley said it was a typical frustrating first encounter for both sides with a lot of stop-start scenarios.
“We know the obvious differences, we have a new coaching staff, we have lost one or two players, but our systems are pretty much the same,” he said.
“Of course there’s a tweak here and here, but we are not trying to reinvent the wheel. We know we can’t stay the same but keep evolving.”
Whiteley formed a new loose trio with Kwagga Smith and Cyle Brink – Jaco Kriel is still on the mend – but preferred to focus on the franchise’s general performance.
Whiteley lauded coach Swys de Bruin for relentlessly trying to initiate innovative ideas to ensure the team doesn’t fall behind.
“We can’t be the same team as last year if we want to keep improving,” he said.
“The competition keeps evolving, teams are getting better so we’ll also have to go in search of improvement.”