LIONS MUST BRING A-GAME
DE BRUIN: WE ARE REALLY PROCESS-DRIVEN FOR WARATAHS SHOWDOWN
Home side enjoying a comfortable lead in Aussie conference.
The Lions could be their own worst enemy if they look past the Waratahs in their opening Super Rugby game on tour in Sydney today, according to coach Swys de Bruin.
In a new setback yesterday the recurring knee injury of captain Warren Whiteley is regarded as worse than initially thought and he won’t join the squad until he is medically cleared by the Lions.
De Bruin said the focus was on the Waratahs and they would love to start their journey well.
“What I’ve learned – and doc (Rob Collins) has been on all five tours with me and Ackers (Johan Ackermann) and them – and he will tell you as soon as you get your mind ‘there’ you will lose it ‘here’,” said De Bruin.
While Tahs coach Daryl Gibson said they are bracing themselves for a physical Lions, De Bruin insisted they are really “process-driven” and said it’s really about the next game for them.
“Even in selection of the team it’s all about Friday night and when that’s done and dusted we’ll focus on the next one,” he said.
While the Lions have a tough tour with matches against the Reds, Hurricanes and Highlanders still to come, De Bruin said it’s important to be wary of the threats the Waratahs could pose.
“The Tahs drew one and lost just one, they are sitting strong as Aussie conference leaders, their style is an all-over brand, they have a good scrum,” he said.
“But also with guys like (their flyhalf Bernard) Foley and that monster winger (Taqele Naiyaravoro), they have a well-balanced team on the up and it has shown in their results. So we’ll have to bring our A-game.”
De Bruin said the plan with flying out so late was to do most of their prep at home.
“We really had a long session with the doc who is really good with these sort of things, we could have gone over on the Friday as in the past or Saturday and spend a week there,” he said.
“But we thought it was good to go as late as possible, it’s a Friday night game and then almost staying in our time zone if possible and adapting after the game when we go to the Reds in Brisbane.”
Kick-off: 11.45am.