Feeding Tahs trio a dangerous game
TACTICAL KICKING: FOLAU, BEALE, FOLEY LOOM LARGE
Scrumhalf Cronje to play in his third successive semifinal.
With the Waratahs using the aerial attack as a big tactic it will be suicidal if they kick poorly in tomorrow’s Super Rugby semifinal at Ellis Park, said Lions scrumhalf Ross Cronje.
With Waratahs fullback Israel Folau, centre Kurtley Beale and flyhalf Bernard Foley masters in this area of the game, Cronje believed they as Lions will have to be very clever in their execution.
“If I kick it’s going to have to be pinpoint and we will have to have competitors in the air,” said Cronje yesterday.
He said there’s sometimes a fine line and the cliche that a kick is only as good as the chase, is probably not far-fetched.
“If I have a good kick without a good chase then it’s technically a bad kick,” said Cronje.
“We have to make sure that if we do kick it’s spot-on, we know they have a good counter-attack, so we will have to do it properly.”
Having being involved in the previous two semifinal wins against the Highlanders and the Hurricanes at Ellis Park, Cronje said the magnitude of the occasion just gets bigger every single time.
“It never gets easier, it gets more difficult definitely, but I’m very privileged to play in my third successive semifinal,” he said.
“I am just feeling excited to go out there again in front of a hopefully full Ellis Park, there’s no better feeling running out there in front of a packed stadium.”
Trying to win back his spot in the national side is now very far from his mindset, said Cronje, who added that the focus now was only on getting the Lions past the next hurdle.
“Playing here at the Lions … there’s nothing like that,” he said.
“There’s no stadium where you can play running rugby like this where it’s generally dry, throw that ball around and have fun with your mates.”