As the Lions brace themselves for a Challenge Cup round of 16 encounter against French side Racing 92 on Saturday at Ellis Park (6.30pm), their backline coach Ricardo Loubscher says they will play to their strengths.
Teams often change their style of play when they approach knockout games, and at times it can work or go south. The Lions will be involved in their biggest game since moving to the Northern Hemisphere competitions.
They take on one of Europe’s traditional big teams Racing, who in their ranks have two players from SA, Trevor Nyakane and Warrick Gelant. They are also expecting Springbok captain Siya Kolisi to join them after the Rugby World Cup.
Loubscher, who has coached in France at Stade Francais, expects Racing to play similar to how the France national team play. “If you look at the way the French team plays, you can see that style is filtering down to the clubs,” said Loubscher yesterday.
“From our point of view, we are going to focus on ourselves but we know they are a dangerous side. We are expecting the unexpected, so we need to prepare for a massive kicking game and prepare for a team that’s willing to run from their own 22, it’s hard to prepare for that but we have to prepare for the running game and kicking game,” he said.
Knowing what Racing will bring to the table, the Lions will not change their way of play, they will look to impose their strengths at Ellis Park on the weekend.
“You want to play to your strengths, the biggest mistake is when you get a playoff game and try to change and go away from your strength. We are going to stick to what worked for us in the last few games,” said the former Springbok.
“The big thing for us is to take that one more step forward in terms of how we want to play, we have to make sure we force our strengths on them. We know they’re a team that’s off the cuff, they can create something out of nothing, so defensively for us, we have to make sure we handle that.
“They got a long kicking game, how we are going to deal with that... it’s just making sure our backfield is organised,” he said.
Lions ready for running and kicking game against Racing 92 – coach
‘We are going to stick to what worked for us in the last few games’
Image: Gallo Images
As the Lions brace themselves for a Challenge Cup round of 16 encounter against French side Racing 92 on Saturday at Ellis Park (6.30pm), their backline coach Ricardo Loubscher says they will play to their strengths.
Teams often change their style of play when they approach knockout games, and at times it can work or go south. The Lions will be involved in their biggest game since moving to the Northern Hemisphere competitions.
They take on one of Europe’s traditional big teams Racing, who in their ranks have two players from SA, Trevor Nyakane and Warrick Gelant. They are also expecting Springbok captain Siya Kolisi to join them after the Rugby World Cup.
Loubscher, who has coached in France at Stade Francais, expects Racing to play similar to how the France national team play. “If you look at the way the French team plays, you can see that style is filtering down to the clubs,” said Loubscher yesterday.
“From our point of view, we are going to focus on ourselves but we know they are a dangerous side. We are expecting the unexpected, so we need to prepare for a massive kicking game and prepare for a team that’s willing to run from their own 22, it’s hard to prepare for that but we have to prepare for the running game and kicking game,” he said.
Knowing what Racing will bring to the table, the Lions will not change their way of play, they will look to impose their strengths at Ellis Park on the weekend.
“You want to play to your strengths, the biggest mistake is when you get a playoff game and try to change and go away from your strength. We are going to stick to what worked for us in the last few games,” said the former Springbok.
“The big thing for us is to take that one more step forward in terms of how we want to play, we have to make sure we force our strengths on them. We know they’re a team that’s off the cuff, they can create something out of nothing, so defensively for us, we have to make sure we handle that.
“They got a long kicking game, how we are going to deal with that... it’s just making sure our backfield is organised,” he said.
Boks in a better place now than ahead of 2019 World Cup: Siya Kolisi
Sharks to lose another top talent as speedster Abrahams signs for Lyon
Tough task ahead for limping Bulls in Toulouse
Lions keep it simple to win crucial URC match
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Trending
Related articles
Latest Videos