Lions roll in the heavies
After being mauled in the Jaguares lineout drives last week‚ the Lions have opted for bulk and experience in their squad to take on the Rebels on Saturday.
They have restored the Springbok lock pairing of Stephan Lewies and Marvin Orie‚ while redeploying last week’s second row starters Rhyno Herbst and Ruan Vermaak to the substitutes’ bench for their Super Rugby clash at Ellis Park.
Forwards coach Philip Lemmer conceded his pack backpedalled far too much last week‚ but he believes they’ve addressed the glitches by changing personnel and getting up to speed again with some maul nitty-gritty.
“Marvin was injured last week, but his leadership is key. He can stop the driving maul which was a concern for us last week.
“He also adds more weight in the scrums‚” said Lemmer.
Lemmer is confident his forwards will stand their ground, and that fractious maul defence is a thing of the past.
“It was small detail that the guys missed‚” he said about the maul defence last week.
It is not just in the forwards where the Lions have had to make amendments. Tyrone Green‚ less than two weeks after turning 21‚ will make his first start in Super Rugby at fullback.
“He has been working really hard and deserves his opportunity. He’s very exciting.
“This takes nothing away from Boeboes (Andries Coetzee)‚ who has been fantastic. This is just our rotational policy‚” said skills coach Neil de Bruin.
Unlike previous seasons, the Lions have preferred mixing and matching in their selections, but they argue it is a necessary exercise in the marathon competition.
“The key in Super Rugby is rotation‚” said Ross Cronjé.
“If you want to keep the guys fresh and hungry then rotation is 100% key.”
Cronjé will have to have his wits about him on Saturday. He has the vastly experienced Wallaby Will Genia as direct opponent‚ while the capricious Quade Cooper can also inflict some damage if the mood grabs him at first receiver.
“I don’t think it will affect them. I think they are a class pairing‚” said Cronjé about the fact that Genia and Cooper this week attended a Wallaby camp before flying out.
“They can show a bit of magic, but we can’t focus on two players.”