LIONS GET BITE
VAN ROOYEN: PRIDE OF JOBURG WILL ‘HAVE A CRACK’
➸ Bulls line-up pretty much the first-choice team coach Jake White had in mind a few weeks ago.
Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen has recalled flank Jaco Kriel and prop Carlu Sadie will play off the bench in tomorrow’s Currie Cup semifinal at Loftus against the Bulls, after they were rested for the previous clash in Pretoria two weeks ago.
There was however no room for flank Marnus Schoeman and prop Dylan Smith, who tweaked a hamstring in training this week.
The Bulls won 22-15 at the same venue as the semifinal in the regular season, and with so much at stake tomorrow, Van Rooyen said yesterday that the Lions are willing to “have a crack”.
“The lessons from the previous game were that we allowed them to control the tempo of the game completely. So having a crack doesn’t necessarily mean throwing the ball around, but seeing if we can determine the tempo of the game,” Van Rooyen said.
“If we feel we have forward dominance, it’s about how we can exert it. If we feel they put us under big pressure on defence, it’s about how we transition that into a good kicking game. So it’s about applying pressure in different ways,” added Van Rooyen.
The Bulls starting line-up announced yesterday is pretty much the first-choice team coach Jake White would have had in mind a few weeks ago.
The exceptions are at lock and hooker, where Sintu Manjezi and Schalk Erasmus have cracked the nod.
Promising 25-year-old second-rower Walt Steenkamp is still fighting his way through the Covid return-to-play protocols, while Erasmus is the heavier of the two hookers – 108kg to the 98kg of Johan Grobbelaar – and thus will start to bolster the scrum, where the Bulls will have to weather an early onslaught from the Lions.
“Schalk scrummed with Lizo Gqoboka and Trevor Nyakane last game and I just thought it was easier to keep them together.
“With Grobbies, Jacques and Arno on the bench we have a bit more senior, experienced heads to finish. We have the luxury of having Jacques on the bench, who is a great asset, but Lizo is a Springbok and has played with Trevor. They’ve been working with scrum coach Daan Human and the feeling was they are a settled combination,” White said.