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WARY: GOLD SAYS LIONS WILL ASK PLENTY QUESTIONS WITH BALL IN HAND
Winner between Lions and Sharks in Durban will have huge bearing on Super Rugby fortune of South African teams.
Today’s Super Rugby clash between the Sharks and the Lions at Kings Park will be crucial to the projected fortunes of both teams in the Africa 2 pool, and Gary Gold, the KwaZulu-Natal franchise’s director of rugby, is not shying away from that fact.
Whichever team tops Africa 2 is guaranteed a home quarterfinal and the Sharks currently lead the Lions by two points. But the Lions have only one more overseas game – against the Jaguares in Buenos Aires – ahead of them, while the Sharks will leave for New Zealand on Sunday for matches against the Blues, Highlanders and Chiefs. They also have a trip to Argentina waiting for them.
“We’ve had a reasonably good start, but our last game against the Crusaders was a bit of a blip and not a great performance, so we want to get back to playing good rugby and be in control of our own destiny,” Gold said in the build-up to the match.
“We knew our draw would pose challenges for us, so we need a bit of a buffer, which is why this game against the Lions is so important.
“Hopefully we can come away with a couple of results in New Zealand like they did but, to be honest, these games with the teams in your pool are more important. They’re like a two-shot swing in golf.”
The Lions have gone into fullon laager mode this week, refusing to speak to the media, and whether they will profit from this lock-down approach is debatable. What is clear is that they are feeling the pressure, having also lost to the Crusaders.
Being under pressure could inhibit the Lions, who have generally prospered when they play free-flowing, positive rugby. It’s a type of game Gold would like the Sharks to emulate, but to do that they need to look after the ball better.
“The Lions are a flippin’ good team and they will ask plenty of questions with ball in hand, but if we can keep the ball in hand then there will be opportunities for us as well,” he said.
“We want to play ball-in-hand rugby, but there are areas of the field and times when you can play too much rugby. Rugby is a simple game, but at this level the margins are very small and it’s about getting the balance right. It’s about decisions, getting those right, and then getting the execution right.
“It’s never the plan just to kick the ball away or to not get our lineout ball, but in five games we’ve had 77 turnover opportunities in the opposition half, so we’ve had a fair amount of ball. We just have to look after it better.”