Lions spark war of words before final
In pointing out apparent faults in Joe Moody’s scrummaging in the build-up to the Super Rugby final, Lions coach Swys de Bruin may have handed the Crusaders an extra few rounds of ammunition as the two best packs in the competition prepare to go at it.
Before leaving Johannesburg, de Bruin raised concerns about how the All Blacks and Crusaders’ loosehead prop, considered the best in the world, went about his business in the set piece, but Crusaders’ forwards coach Jason Ryan has hit back, pointing out that Lions tighthead Ruan Dreyer is one of the most penalised in the competition.
It could provide an extra edge to the match at AMI Stadium tonight as the Lions seek revenge for their grand final defeat at the hands of the Crusaders at Ellis Park 12 months ago, and while de Bruin probably raised it to get the attention of referee Angus Gardner, it may backfire on him and his team.
“I’ve heard it all before and it usually comes up when we name Joe Moody because he’s the best in the world coming up against one of the most penalised tightheads in Super Rugby for two years running,” Ryan said yesterday, before his team’s captain’s run held in bright sunshine.
“We’ve got our plan. We know what we want to do; we want to hit square and play channel one, it’s what we’ve done all year — to get the ball to the backs.”
Ryan added off the attention his loosehead prop was getting from the Lions: “We’ve had it for the last three weeks in a row. Maybe with Joe we have to look at a few things there but all I know is when Joe is at his best there are not many, if any, tighthead props that can hold him down. It’s more than just Joe. We have to back that our strength as an eight will be good enough.
“They’re scrummaging well,” he said of the Lions. “They scrum differently to us; they have a mindset to be destructive, clearly, and they back their scrum to get a penalty. That’s not what we do often.”
Asked about the Crusaders’ willingness to be positive scrummagers, Ryan added: “We’re positive. We hit square and stay square and we want to have a crack as well. It’s probably fair to say we’ve got the two packs out there that are the two strongest scrummaging packs, or packs generally, in the competition.”
Discipline will be key for both teams in Christchurch. Dreyer conceded three penalties to the Crusaders in last year’s final — all potential coach killers. He conceded two against the Waratahs in last weekend’s semifinal victory over the Waratahs and will be asked some serious questions by what is virtually an All Black pack.
The Crusaders will expect the Lions to come with a bullying-type attitude; one which, if isn’t successful, can quickly backfire. There has always been a feeling in Christchurch that if South African teams can’t make in-roads with their physicality they don’t have much else to fall back on.
That could apply too to the Lions’ lineout drive; a weapon if used properly, but one which can be a liability if used too often without reward.
“We’ve put a lot of work into it this week — more than we would any other week, because obviously it is their strength,” Ryan said. “It’s their plan A, plan B and often their plan C as well. The key is not to let it start and we’ve got a couple of plans around that which we back ourselves to execute.”
The Crusaders appeared in excellent spirits in their final training run of the year. Reserve Hooker Andrew Makalio appeared to come through well following his quick recovery from a calf injury, with skipper Sam Whitelock particularly vocal as the forwards went through their lineout drills.
“There are a few butterflies, but that’s just your body telling you you’re ready,” Ryan said as his side prepared for their first home final in 10 years. “We treat pressure as a privilege. This is when you want to be playing and this is when you want to be coaching.”