Discipline huge factor as Lions welcome Jaguares

DISCIPLINE‚ or lack thereof‚ will be one of the deciding factors when the Lions host Argentina’s Jaguares at Ellis Park in Johannesburg tomorrow.

Maintaining discipline is a huge focus for the Lions this season.

“We want to protect the ball better‚” Lions coach Swys de Bruin said.

“That way we can put together phases and build pressure – and that, in turn, will force the Jaguares to lose their discipline.”

The Jaguares conceded 15 penalties against the Stormers.

A similar tally will make for another long afternoon at Ellis Park.

De Bruin‚ however is also all too aware of the Argentines potency with the ball.

“They carry the ball very well – they play an interesting style of attack.

“They have a good nine-10 combination. Their whole spine is good.

“They don’t have many weaknesses,” De Bruin said. “You have to be on top of your game to beat them.”

The Lions were not entirely on top of their game in their triumph over the Sharks on Saturday last week.

“Coach Philip [Lemmer] and Franco [Mostert] worked hard at that.

“We believed it was sorted‚” De Bruin said about their lineout troubles.

Lions skipper Warren Whiteley said: “I think we were just too slow.

“We were slow to react, and some of our calls weren’t good. We’ve worked on it – our speed and reaction.”

De Bruin retained the same starting lineup he named to play the Sharks.

Lock Andries Ferreira was earmarked to play, but a stomach bug meant he had to sit out. He is back up‚ and running.

But on the bench‚ De Bruin has introduced scrumhalf Marco Jansen van Vuuren, to alleviate the burden on Ross Cronje.

“Marco trained well, he has to play,” the coach said.

“We’ll introduce younger players, when the opportunity presents itself.”

Although the Jaguares came up short at Newlands, against the Stormers, they have presented problems to the Lions.

Since the Jaguares’ introduction to Super Rugby in 2016‚ the Lions have found the going mostly tough against the South Americans.

They lost both matches in Buenos Aires – and narrowly won 24-21 at Ellis Park last year.

The Lions were, however, rampant winners in their first clash in 2016.

The Lions team is: Andries Coetzee, Sylvian Mahuza‚ Lionel Mapoe‚ Harold Vorster‚ Aphiwe Dyantyi, Elton Jantjies‚ Ross Cronje, Warren Whiteley‚ Cyle Brink‚ Kwagga Smith, Franco Mostert‚ Andries Ferreira, Ruan Dreyer‚ Malcolm Marx‚ Jacques van Rooyen. Substitutes: Robbie Coetzee‚ Dylan Smith‚ Jacobie Adriaanse‚ Lourens Erasmus‚ Hacjivah Dayimani, Marco Jansen van Vuren‚ Howard Mnisi‚ Rohan Janse van Rensburg. – TimesLIVE