One step at a time
FORTNIGHT: HIATUS HAS ALLOWED SWYS’ SIDE TO ‘GET THE DUCKS IN A ROW’
Rudolph Jacobs
Lions captain Warren Whiteley is adamant that because of the high stakes in play at Ellis Park in their defining Super Rugby clash against the Bulls today, they can’t afford to look too far ahead.
A win will secure the Lions a home quarterfinal next weekend, while a Brumbies win over the Waratahs could still help them get a semifinal at home if they get that far.
Whiteley said as players they will just focus on this game and are quite excited to be back at Ellis Park as it’s special and it’s been a long time since the break for the June Tests, adding that it’s been a good week.
“We have a lot of guys who have experience and who have travelled in quarters and semis and finals, so it does help, but that experience also taught us to focus on each individual game.
“We do have another gear in us. I thought we were close in finding that two weekends ago, we were finding our rhythm, applying pressure so we are getting there.”
While the Bulls have a new skipper in lock RG Snyman and could miss the absence of their Springbok flyhalf Handre Pollard, Whiteley said they expect a firedup Bulls team.
“The Bulls will put us under pressure in different areas. They play an exciting brand and they are going to test us. We are going to have to be on alert. They will take opportunities and more risks.
“They have a different attacking shape to New Zealand sides, but what Mitch has created is keeping ball in hand and applying pressure and in that way they are similar to Kiwi sides.”
Lions coach Swys de Bruin said the bye gave them a chance to get all the ducks in a row and almost set new goals for the “last stretch”.
He said: “We almost see it as our book of the year and this is the final chapter and we want to write a good story.”
De Bruin said it’s never a oneman show, from excellent leadership, their CEO Rudolf Straeuli to the medical guys, even the guy who cuts the grass, they all play a massive part in the result that they want.
“The Bulls have a good rush defence, though, which will put our skills areas under pressure, but we have worked on a plan or two.”
Kick-off: 3.05pm.
EHeinz Schenk
ven though the best Belgium and England can hope for now in Russia is slogging it out for third place today, it’s undeniable that both nations’ managers, Roberto Martinez and Gareth Southgate, have kept their reputations intact.
Neither was given much of a chance when they took their respective sides to the 2018 Fifa World Cup in Russia.
It wasn’t difficult to understand why.
Martinez is known as a flaky, naive dreamer who values attacking football above everything. Southgate is still thought to be too much of a nice guy.
Both were relegated with their English Premiership clubs, Wigan and Middlesbrough.
Yet, interestingly, they seem to have found their place in international football. At face value it seems like quite an achievement. But is it really? Southgate’s run with England at the showpiece tournament is probably more notable given how he managed to extract quite a lot out of an unheralded, inconsistent team.
Belgium is a different story – that’s one hell of a side and all you essentially need is to somehow get those players to gel, even just for a six-week period like at the World Cup.
International football has become sympathetic to men like Martinez and Southgate.
In general your goals are fairly short term. You live for qualification for big tournaments as well as peaking at those tournaments.
At international level you don’t have to endlessly balance budgets and keep on recruiting suitable players to stay ahead of the curve, as is the case at club level.
There aren’t fussy, trigger-happy owners to appease and up to 50 games per season to get through.
It all contrasts so sharply with what it takes to be Springbok coach.
Indeed, the brain drain in South African rugby has been such a problem for the last few years you really have to be at the top of your game.
Springbok coaches don’t have the luxury of just picking the best players at domestic level, developing a game plan and finishing them off. Oh no.
When those provincial players come into camp, some of them still need proper coaching because financially stressed unions don’t even have money for specialist coaches anymore.
While the All Blacks are cranking into gear, we’re still trying to install the gearbox.
Martinez and Southgate don’t know just how good they have it.