Lions desperate to up consistency

It is a big fortnight of training for the stumbling Lions as they prepare to take on the Sharks in what could be a season defining United Rugby Championship (URC) derby at Ellis Park next weekend.

After a tough start to the season the Lions looked to be on the up as they entered the festive period, when they went on a five game winning run in the URC and Challenge Cup that put them in strong positions in both competitions.

However since the start of the New Year the Lions have lost four games on the bounce, two in the Challenge Cup, having still made it through to the next round regardless, and two in the URC, both against close rivals the Bulls in the Jukskei derbies.

It has left the Lions in 11th place on the URC log on 24 points, five points behind Ulster and Ospreys respectively, with the top eight qualifying for the competition knockouts, which is the Lions goal this season.

A loss against the Sharks at home next weekend would see them slip even further away from that, and with a tough two game European tour to follow, as well as home games against Irish giants Leinster and Munster still to come, it could leave them with too much to do down the back end.

“It is a big game. The reality is that you can’t be inconsistent in the lineouts, scrums and in your kicking game and not keep the ball on attack. We have to be a lot better in all of those departments,” said Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen.

“We really trained well (before the game). We probably had our best two training weeks the whole season in terms of improving on those aspects. So to get that result (against the Bulls) was quite disappointing.”

Lions captain Marius Louw believes that it is “small mistakes” that have been costing his team in recent games.