The Lions will try again, says Simelane

ONE of the biggest failings of the Lions last weekend was their inability to dot down behind the Bulls’ tryline.

Due to a handful of factors, including a lack of clinical execution in the opposition’s half, wretched errors with ball-in-hand, and the staunch defence of the Bulls, the Joburgers were unable to traverse the whitewash.

Instead, they relied on the boot of Fred Zeilinga to notch up their only points of the game (9).

And that inability to score a single try hurt, according to SA Rugby Young Player of the Year Wandisile Simelane.

“Not scoring a try against the Bulls was a bit painful for us because we pride ourselves on our attacking game. We are definitely going to try and fix that, and try and look at ourselves and see what we can do better,” said the Lions centre yesterday.

“We did have a good chat about it this week and the main thing we said was not to panic – one game is not going to determine how good or how bad we are” the 23-year-old added.

“The main thing for all of us is to just stay calm and just restart.

“We know that we are all good enough and have the capabilities of playing well and pulling together as a team. So, one of the main things for us is just not to hit panic mode, refocus, regroup, believe in our processes, and just keep going.“

Other disappointing aspects of the Lions’ opening Rainbow Cup encounter was the team’s defence, especially in the first five minutes of the match, and the lack of enthusiasm in the kick-chase.

The Lions made 112 tackles to limit the Bulls during 60 minutes of the game, but they missed 24 tackles for a 79% tackle-rate success. And they gave the Bulls far too much room and too many options on the counter when they decided to put boot-to-ball.

Both those areas, accordinto Simelane, will be much improved when the Lions face the Sharks in Durban on Saturday (4pm).