Lions to move on from loss

Rudolph Jacobs

Ace Springbok hooker Malcolm Marx (above) said the Lions are not the kind of team who dwell too much on the past.

While it was a big disappointment to go down narrowly to the Blues in Super Rugby last weekend, since Monday they have focused on their next assignment which is the Sunwolves at Ellis Park on Saturday.

“After the game we sort of said to ourselves we’ll get over it. It’s one game in the competition and it’s still early stages,” said Marx.

“This week has been pretty good, the guys sort of lifted the vibe, not to have a sort of sour mood looking ahead. We just want to better ourselves and put the loss behind us.”

Absolutely refusing to give a hint on the new captain, he said to lose their experienced skippers and loose forwards Jaco Kriel and Warren Whiteley in the space of a week had been a big letdown, but Marx said they simply have to refocus.

“Jaco and Warren are obviously great leaders, guys that I look up to personally, but it’s part of the game and nothing really we can do about it now,” said Marx.

“We can only support them and wish them well in their recovery and obviously hope they are back rather sooner than later.”

Marx said they probably got too comfortable at stages, not executing as well as they can do, losing a lot of ball in contact, also struggling a bit in set-piece and scrum.

“It might be better to lose now than say in the play-offs, but not counting our chickens before they are hatched,” he said.

“But rather let it happen now so that we can get back on the bandwagon and actually start grafting hard again, working hard for each other.”

Marx said, in his opinion, there were times in the game where they got a little bit complacent and a bit too comfortable, but said they’ve looked at and moved past it and focus on the Sunwolves this week.

“It’s part of the game and how we learn, we have analysed what we did wrong and obviously work on that,” he said.

After the game we sort of said to ourselves we’ll get over it. It’s one game in the competition and it’s still early stages.

Malcolm Marx