Lions assistant coach Albert van den Berg says the team has to stop using the excuse of rebuilding and start putting together a process that will bring results.
The Lions had to undergo a transition in 2019, after much of the team that took them to the finals of the Super Rugby from 2016 to 2018 left the franchise. The Covid-19 pandemic did not help the Lions in their rebuild, their finances took a knock and suddenly their competitiveness in the market was non-existent.
Results and good performances have been hard to come by for the Lions recently, and when the coaching staff faced the media they would bring up the fact that they were rebuilding.
This week when speaking to the media from Wales ahead of their Challenge Cup game with the Dragons on Sunday at the Rodney Parade Stadium (3pm), Van den Berg said talks of rebuilding have to be a thing of the past.
“We can’t come every week with the same excuses, and say we are still building. [We need to take] a hard look in the mirror and say to ourselves where are we going with this team, what do we need to change, make those calls and take steps forward,” said Van den Berg.
“There is a bit of work to do, whether it’s from the top or bottom, changes that need to be made or things that we need to adjust to make sure we get the results we want. Some hard calls to make, we have to make those calls.
“We can’t come every year with the same excuses and sit in the same position and say we don’t have an identity, we don’t know where we are going with this team. We are going to try and build and change things around making sure that the coaches and players understand what’s expected from them,” he said.
The Lions have lost four games on the spin in all competitions and have not been convincing on the field. Van den Berg was asked if there was an identity crisis in the Johannesburg side.
“Identity crisis is not there, I think it’s more a case of finding our feet and making sure we get our recruitment sorted, our training sorted, the guys that are in the team understating their roles and what’s needed from them. Build that whole package, if we can get that process gelling together, then the road going forward things will look brighter for us,” he said.
Time for Lions to produce results, says Van den Berg
'Excuse of rebuilding the team no longer acceptable'
Image: Eoin Noonan
Lions assistant coach Albert van den Berg says the team has to stop using the excuse of rebuilding and start putting together a process that will bring results.
The Lions had to undergo a transition in 2019, after much of the team that took them to the finals of the Super Rugby from 2016 to 2018 left the franchise. The Covid-19 pandemic did not help the Lions in their rebuild, their finances took a knock and suddenly their competitiveness in the market was non-existent.
Results and good performances have been hard to come by for the Lions recently, and when the coaching staff faced the media they would bring up the fact that they were rebuilding.
This week when speaking to the media from Wales ahead of their Challenge Cup game with the Dragons on Sunday at the Rodney Parade Stadium (3pm), Van den Berg said talks of rebuilding have to be a thing of the past.
“We can’t come every week with the same excuses, and say we are still building. [We need to take] a hard look in the mirror and say to ourselves where are we going with this team, what do we need to change, make those calls and take steps forward,” said Van den Berg.
“There is a bit of work to do, whether it’s from the top or bottom, changes that need to be made or things that we need to adjust to make sure we get the results we want. Some hard calls to make, we have to make those calls.
“We can’t come every year with the same excuses and sit in the same position and say we don’t have an identity, we don’t know where we are going with this team. We are going to try and build and change things around making sure that the coaches and players understand what’s expected from them,” he said.
The Lions have lost four games on the spin in all competitions and have not been convincing on the field. Van den Berg was asked if there was an identity crisis in the Johannesburg side.
“Identity crisis is not there, I think it’s more a case of finding our feet and making sure we get our recruitment sorted, our training sorted, the guys that are in the team understating their roles and what’s needed from them. Build that whole package, if we can get that process gelling together, then the road going forward things will look brighter for us,” he said.
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