Lions count on altitude to blunt Cardiff threat
Laubscher reveals tactic to get behind defensive lines
Lions attack and backline coach Ricardo Laubscher says they will want to use the altitude in Johannesburg to their advantage when they take on Cardiff Rugby in the United Rugby Championship at Ellis Park on Sunday.
The Lions have had a difficult period in the URC but they are encouraged by the effort they put in their 21-13 loss to Leinster away in Ireland last month. They were able to match the strong Irish province and now they want to build on that performance.
This will be the first time the European team tours SA in the recently launched URC. In the former competition, the PRO 14, the Cheetahs used to do well when they were visited by the northern hemisphere sides. They would topple them because of the conditions in Bloemfontein.
The Lions will look to take a page out of the Cheetahs book, and look to use the conditions in Johannesburg to suffocate Cardiff when they meet on Sunday.
“Our mindset is to see if we can use the conditions in our favour. For them to come to the highveld, hopefully we can expose them with the altitude and style of play we want to bring to the game,” said Laubscher.
“They're used to a kicking game but they've also shown that they can play. So for us, it's what are the positives we can take out of the Leinster performance and build on that.
“We're going to do our analysis on them, hopefully we can exploit their weaknesses,” he said.
Laubscher shared how they plan to break down Cardiff's defensive pattern, saying they will aim to kick into the spaces behind their defensive lines.
“When you're facing a 13 + 2 defence, in other words, they have 13 guys in the frontline and two guys at the back, it's hard breaking it,” explained Laubscher.
“One way to break them down is to use your kicking game and target the kick space behind, whether it's down the middle between those two fullbacks or if they close that space, we'll go to the corners.
“That's when we make use of the 50:22 rule. We're going to stick to our DNA, hold onto the ball but also find that balance,” said Laubscher. Under the rule, a team will retain the line-out throw if they kick the ball into touch inside the opposition 22m from inside their own half.