Ackermann wary of ‘intercept king’

First there was Pieter Rossouw, Bryan Habana and Jean de Villiers.

Sharks wing Lwazi Mvovo (right) has now stuck up his hand as the new “intercept king” of South African rugby.

And it’s this ability that has made Lions coach Johan Ackermann wary ahead of their clash against the Sharks tonight in a crucial Super Rugby derby in Durban.

“It’s definitely something we have to look out for. Intercepts are such an individual piece of brilliance, often executed against the run of play and often occurring with a forced pass when the structures

When you concede six tries in a match it would be unwise to single out one player.

are not properly in place,” Ackermann said this week.

Mvovo produced two such intercepts against the Crusaders a couple of weeks ago.

The Lions, meanwhile, also conceded an intercept when Crusaders wing Johnny McNicholl got hold of a long skip pass from Lions No 9 Faf de Klerk last week.

Often, however, when a player attempts an intercept, he has to go out of his defensive line and if he fails it could leave a massive hole in the defensive structure.

“We have again looked at the game against the Crusaders and realised we could’ve won it, as at least four of their six tries could have been prevented,” Ackermann said.

Though the Lions’ defensive structures have been placed under the radar this week, after they leaked some soft tries against the Crusaders, Ackermann felt it was unfair to single out midfielder Howard Mnisi for the few tackles he missed on giant Crusaders wing Nemani Nadolo.

“When you concede six tries in a match it would be unwise to single out one player,” he said. “It’s a team effort.”

Johan Ackermann Lions coach