Lions must work hard – Jantjies
Flyhalf foresees tough competition
HAVING been beaten Super Rugby finalists two years in a row‚ naturally distinct opinions will be formed around the Lions and their ability to go one better this year. The attention‚ warranted or otherwise‚ does not bother Elton Jantjies‚ a player accustomed to sailing headlong into the prevailing tide.
“I suppose there will be expectations from the outside for us to be come the South African team to win Super Rugby‚” Jantjies said on Tuesday.
“People have their own expectations, but for us as a group we need to stay in the moment.
“We can’t look too far ahead‚” he said in the buildup to Saturday’s opener against the Sharks at Ellis Park.
Putting public opinion aside‚ what do the Lions believe they should do to go one better this year?
They topped the points table last year and may well have won the final had they not been reduced to 14 men for the bulk of the game.
“We need to do everything better. All aspects of the game‚” Jantjies said in a sobering tone.
“We are gonna have to do it better than we’ve done it before. “Everybody [will] prepare for the Lions. “Everybody [has] a theory about how to beat the Lions.
“We have to prepare for every eventuality. “We will be tested across the board. “We need to know what our strengths are and stick to [them].”
With Swys de Bruin elevated to the position of head coach‚ Jantjies believes not much has changed, nor will it.
“It is the same feeling‚” he said about this buildup compared with the previous two.
“As coaches, Swys and [former coach] Johan Ackermann are very similar.
“Given that we have the same group of senior players, it will be easy for the coaches to slot in.
“They’ve been involved in the junior structures and the SuperSport Challenge.
“They’ve been doing things fairly similarly to what we’ve been doing in the senior ranks.
“It is about them now finding their feet in the senior structures.”
With De Bruin in charge‚ not much changes for Jantjies either.
The flyhalf can be a finely strung player‚ with a susceptibility to minor adjustments of shifts around him.
If anything‚ De Bruin’s elevation is reassuring.
“Coach Swys has been a big part of it for me over the last three‚ four years‚ in the way I want to play and how I do things. “We are very familiar with each other. “Nothing changes for me. Everything is similar.
“I always strive to become a better rugby player and make better decisions.”
He will certainly be in the combative Sharks’ crosshairs this weekend.
As the Lions’ backline ringmaster‚ Jantjies’s fortunes are inextricably linked to the momentum of the team. He seems unfazed. “The Sharks won’t be easy but the main message is to focus on us.” – Liam del Carme