What Lions, Stormers need

It can be tough to stand alone for something you believe in. But that’s something I’m willing to take to keep my values, and what I believe in and where I want to go...

NORWAY STRIKER

who will miss the Fifa Women’s World Cup in France next month over a dispute with her home federation about how women’s football is treated in the country THE LIONS and the Stormers have a great chance today to reverse the threatening momentum being built up by the New Zealand teams in Super Rugby.

Jacques van der Westhuyzen and Wynona Louw have a few tips for the two SA teams...

1 EXIT PROPERLY

The Lions too often try to run out of their own 22-metre area instead of clearing their lines by putting boot to ball. And often when they do kick, they don’t do it very well.

It’s something that cost them against the Waratahs as recently as last weekend when the visitors scored tries because of poor kicks so if they’re to have any chance of getting the better of the Highlanders today they’re going to have to exit well.

The visitors thrive on free ball and love counter-attacking from deep so they’ll punish any errant kicks.

2 KEEP SMITH IN CHECK

The Highlanders are not the team of the last few seasons and are missing several big guns, among them fullback

OCKERT DE VILLIERS MELBOURNE REBELS Tries: BULLS Tries:

Hendricks, Pollard, Odendaal, Specman; Pollard (3);

Conversions: Penalties:

Pollard (2) AN INJECTION of some “Specmagic” by Rosko Specman and deft touches from Handré Pollard helped secure the Bulls their first win abroad in three years with victory over the Rebels in Melbourne yesterday.

The Bulls produced a muchimproved performance from their loss to the Crusaders a week ago, scoring four exceptional tries to reclaim the lead in the South African conference. The Pretoria side could not have asked for a better start of their tour, overcoming a spirited Rebels team who flung everything they could at the visitors.

The Bulls can be proud of their defensive effort, making 138 tackles to the 74 by the Rebels. The home side did most of the playing, enjoying 62 percent of the possession and 64 percent territory.

Much of the Bulls’ success can be attributed to their stalwarts with the likes of Duane Vermeulen, Schalk Brits and Lizo Gqoboka leading the charge.

The first half-hour of the match, bizarrely, did not see a single scrum while some referee decisions were Ben Smith.

But in scrumhalf Aaron Smith, who is the heartbeat of the team, they have a player who can almost dictate the flow and pace of the game on his own over the course of the 80 minutes.

It’ll thus be up to the Lions flanks, Marnus Schoeman and Cyle Brink, and scrumhalf Ross Cronjé to keep Smith in check and not allow him to run the game.

If they manage that then the Lions will have a good chance of securing the win.

3 PLAY WITH FREEDOM

Neither of the teams’ defence has been particularly good this season so there will be gaps and holes for the Lions to exploit.

In 12 games the Highlanders have let in 39 tries and the Lions must look to push that number even higher.

Elton Jantjies must bring his bag of tricks to the match and show what he can do. He must bring out the best in his backs, who in turn must play with freedom and flair.

The only way to beat a New Zealand team is to score more tries than them, so that’s what the Lions must aim to do. |

Jacques van der Westhuyzen

1 DON’T FADE

Ahead of their date with the Stormers, Crusaders centre Ryan Crotty said playing at a high tempo is their way of countering the size and physicality of the South African teams.

Last week the Kiwis surprised the Bulls with their tempo at altitude, and they didn’t drop it as the game progressed.

While Crotty said it won’t be the same against the Stormers, it’s something the hosts should expect and adapt to, consistently.

It’s going to be crucial that the Stormers stay in the game for the full 80 because, as always, we can expect a fast start from the Kiwis as well as that post-halftime energy.

2 BREAK THEM ON THE GROUND

The Crusaders have conceded a lot of penalties in recent weeks, and many of those have come at the breakdown area. That is something that should have the Stormers salivating.

But they shouldn’t just wait around and say thank you for the three points; they should make sure Nic Berry runs out of breath.

They should make an already problematic area even more so for the defending champions by making it as scrappy as possible.

And then they need to make sure they use their chances afterwards.

3 MINIMISE MO’UNGA

The kind of havoc this man wreaked at Loftus must have been hard to watch for Bulls fans.

The kick-passes he sent out wide to David Havili and Sevu Reece were so accurate the ball looked like an ovalshaped magnet, and the way Reece finished off with a try was, in fact, yster.

And so was Mo’unga’s whole game. His game management was brilliant in the 45-13 Highveld hammering, while all the other touches he added proved instrumental.

The Stormers need to shut Mo’unga down. The less time he spends with the ball, the better ... for the Stormers, that is. |

Wynona Louw