Lions set to counter master ball stealer
Brumbies’ Pocock looms large – but Lions have their own plan
THE name David Pocock is right up there with Charles Dempsey and Bryce Lawrence on the list of sporting names South Africans want to hear the least.
And if the Lions have designs on beating the Brumbies at Ellis Park this Saturday, to keep their Super Rugby playoff hopes alive, they will have to stop Pocock at all costs.
The Wallabies openside flanker is a thorn up South Africans’ backsides. A Zimbabwean-born man who once dreamt of playing for the Springboks, Pocock has dedicated his rugby existence to inflicting pain on South African teams, as he did to the Boks at the 2011 World Cup.
He was at his enigmatic best again last week against the Stormers in Cape Town.
Aside from making the Stormers’ ball from the ruck as smooth as a Drakensberg gravel road, he scored a late try that should have won the Brumbies the game but for Christian Leali’ifano’s missed point-blank conversion.
The Lions were bright in some areas of the field when they stopped the Highlanders in Johannesburg last weekend but the breakdown, in spite of Jaco Kriel’s performance, creaked like an old Datsun bakkie.
“Pocock is a fantastic player. I think he’s world class,” Lions captain Warren Whiteley said.
“We know the Brumbies are strong at the breakdown, but we are going to look at ourselves and improvements we must make, like the lineouts.
“We are not going to look to nullify one particular area of the Brumbies’ strengths. We weren’t particularly good at the breakdown on Saturday night but we want to improve on that.
“We believe we can compete at the breakdown with any side in the competition, not just as loose-forwards but as a forward pack and match 23.”
World rugby can change the sport’s laws a million times but they can’t stop Pocock from getting to the breakdown first and locking his hands on the ball like a police dog on a fugitive.
When he scored a rolling maul hat-trick against the Highlanders in a 31-18 win in Canberra last month his teammate and winger Joe Tomane jokingly said at half time that he would have a word with Pocock for scoring a career hat-trick before he did.
But jokes aside, the three tries showed Pocock could marshal the back of a driving maul as well as any South African forward in the competition and he’s not one track- minded.
Lions coach Johan Ackermann’s plan is to limit the breakdown contest by keeping the ball alive. The Lions certainly have the hands, speed and game plan to pull that off.
“The Brumbies may not be as expansive as the Highlanders but they are one of the best defensive teams,” Ackermann said.
“They are extremely competitive at the breakdown – if they don’t spoil it, they turn it over. We’ll have to plan well.
“I believe if we can move the ball and keep it alive – that will create opportunities for us.”