Lions count the cost after emphatic win
THE Lions’ emphatic 44-14 Super Rugby win over the Reds at Ellis Park came at a price.
They are likely to be without utility back Jaco van der Walt‚ prop Johannes Jonker and centre Lionel Mapoe for this weekend’s match against the Southern Kings in Port Elizabeth.
Van der Walt injured an ankle‚ Jonker got a knock to the head and left the field with his neck in a brace‚ while Mapoe has a suspected broken hand.
Coach Johan Ackermann said the injuries put a dampener on their victory.
Still‚ the Lions ran in seven tries to firmly put last week’s defeat to the Jaguares in Buenos Aires behind them.
Wing Courtnall Skosan ran in four tries and backline coach Swys de Bruin was left gushing.
“Courtnall is a special player and I am so glad for him. He is a great guy in the backline. “He is a leader. He does the right things. He trains extremely hard. It is fantastic when a winger scores four tries. It was his night. It was special,” he said.
On the other wing there was a debut for Madosh Tambwe, but he did not make it over the Reds’ goalline. Much is, however, expected from the speedster.
“What can we say about him. He is something else. He is going to play many games. He has already shown us a lot [and] we will keep working on him. There is special stuff that is hiding there‚” De Bruin said.
While the result was never in doubt after Quade Cooper was shown a red card‚ the Lions did drop their guard on defence when the tourists operated with 14 men.
“Our bench needs to know that when they come on they need to bring that same intensity. I will get their focus right‚” defence coach JP Ferreira said.
“We conceded 10 tries in the competition before this game, so I challenged the guys last Thursday. Now we need to keep the attitude going.”
Ackermann was happy with the way his team responded after last week’s defeat.
“We were a little nervous before the game because there is a lot of experience in that Reds side. Credit to our guys for lifting the level to where we want to compete,” he said.