EXCITING TIMES
X-FACTOR: LIONS IN BOK PICTURE IS A BOOST FOR TEAM
Loubscher hoping the six players chosen can go further than the alignment camp.
Lions assistant coach Ricardo Loubscher says that the selection of six of their players for the first Springbok alignment camp of the season has brought a lot of excitement into the union.
And the Lions will be hoping this rubs off on all of the players for the remainder of the season and especially ahead of this weekend’s big United Rugby Championship match against the Sharks at Ellis Park on Saturday (3pm).
The Lions are currently in 11th place on the URC log and desperate to make it into the top eight to feature in the playoffs.
Henco van Wyk, Sanele Nohamba, Jordan Hendrikse, Quan Horn, Ruan Venter and Morne van den Berg were all named in the 43-player Bok group that will meet in Cape Town early next week.
It has been a long stretch for the Lions without a Bok representative in the Bok setup, with them going through the whole previous World Cup cycle without a single player, but they will hope that a few of these six will make the main Bok squad ahead of the international season starting in June.
“You look at the names they picked … Henco, Quan, Sanele, Jordan, Morne, Ruan, these players have an X-factor that they bring to our team and hopefully they can take their game to the next level,” said Loubscher.
“We hope they will get an opportunity to take it further than just the alignment camp, but we are all excited, we are excited for them. And I think that is a step in the right direction for us (at the Lions).
“A lot of credit must also go to our recruitment system. These boys played for us at junior level and ideally that’s what we are looking for.
“For them to make the step-up from junior rugby and get into the URC or the Challenge Cup squads is great, but we are really excited (about these latest call-ups) and can’t wait for them to get their opportunity.”
Even if none of these Lions players are ultimately picked in the final Bok squad, Loubscher believes they will learn a lot from the Bok environment and bring that back to the union.
“A lot of credit must go to them, they are working really hard. I think it is a great opportunity, just to get into a different environment, to get a feel for what it is like to be part of a Springbok setup where the intensity is right up there,” explained Loubscher.
“The preparation, the attention to detail, and getting a feel of training … I hope they are going to come back and bring all the intellectual property with them and it can filter through to our players and our squad. Who knows, maybe we will see five more players there (some time).”