Cronje says Lions will have to be wide awake

Rudolph Jacobs

The Golden Lions made a positive start to their Currie Cup campaign at the weekend, but can ill-afford to “go to sleep” again in certain stages against the Blue Bulls at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

While captain Ross Cronje (right) was thrilled with their 6241 win against Griquas at Ellis Park, Cronje said they need to address the issues why they slightly went off the boil during stages of the contest.

“I think there were times when the whole team went to sleep and that’s when we were punished,” said Cronje

“And you simply can’t afford to go to sleep in the Currie Cup or any kind of rugby. You have to be with it for the full 80 minutes and I do believe this team can play a full 80.”

While the Blue Bulls lost 2610 in Durban to the Sharks last weekend, they will be a different animal for their first home game at Loftus.

Cronje, one of a handful of experienced seniors left in the squad, doesn’t believe there’s more pressure on the more experienced Lions to take guidance and direction.

“For me it’s not difficult at all, every single team the Lions will face will have the same structures coming through,” he said.

“So when a youngster comes in to the side he knows exactly what our plays are and the management and coaches make it easy for them to fit into the system quite quickly.”

Cronje, who scored one of the Lions’ nine tries last weekend, said he isn’t one who normally scores himself and he normally “passes to the faster guys” so that they can get the job done.

“But we had identified that they hadn’t put two guys on the blindside, so we did a bit of homework before the game and it paid off,” he said.

Cronje said the talent, with a couple of youngsters coming through, is amazing.

“We had a few guys making their debuts and it was incredible for guys that young to put up their hands. It was awesome to see and really exciting for Lions rugby,” he said.