Whiteley sounds Sharks warning
‘WE ALL KNOW A BETTER EFFORT IS REQUIRED’ Lions have won three in a row against the visitors.
As a former Sharks player himself, Lions captain Warren Whiteley knows what he is talking about when he spoke about the big task awaiting his side this weekend at Ellis Park.
The Lions have beaten the Sharks in their last three Super Rugby outings, are unbeaten in their last eight matches at fortress Ellis Park and haven’t lost to a fellow SA team in their last 11 games.
But that will all count for nothing if they don’t improve on their second-half effort against the Kings in Port Elizabeth last weekend.
“We all know a much better effort will be required this weekend against a high-quality Sharks team,” said Whiteley.
But even in that first half Whiteley felt the Kings started with great purpose.
“Credit must go to the Kings too, I felt they played with great intensity,” he said.
“And if it wasn’t for them losing possession a few times they could have scored a few more tries, so we were quite fortunate there.”
But the Lions skipper said he is still very proud that they managed to hit back and score that extra try in the end for the bonus point.
“We know how crucial those bonus points could become and they are really worth their goal so it was crucial but we stuck to it and eventually managed it.
“They had a chance to take it away from us but we stopped their maul and turned over ball,” he said.
While the Lions’ preparation last week was less than ideal with a stomach bug going through the squad, Whiteley said it’s still worrying that they were so inaccurate in the second half.
“We just lost our intensity and I don’t really know why, but we weren’t playing with the same hunger as in the first half,” he said.
“They got quick ball and disrupted our breakdown. We made linebreaks but couldn’t convert, our finishing wasn’t great in that second half.”