Lions have to ‘level up’ against La Rochelle in Champions Cup opener
· Citizen
The Lions have to prove that they belong at franchise rugby’s top table by making a big step up when they take on French giants La Rochelle in their Champions Cup opener at the Stade Marcel-Deflandre in France on Saturday evening (kick-off 6:30pm).
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It was a breakout season for them last campaign, where they made the United Rugby Championship (URC) playoffs and qualified for franchise rugby’s biggest competition, the Champions Cup, for the first time.
But that effort could be all for nought if the Lions can’t back that up with a decent showing in the competition, and they don’t have a better baptism of fire than starting off against the former double champions in their backyard in France.
A heavy defeat against the Bulls at Loftus over the past weekend could have given the Lions a good wake up ahead of the huge upcoming clash, but the Joburg side also know they have to be much better, particularly in the collision battle, which they lost badly against their Highveld rivals, to challenge La Rochelle.
“It was good to walk out of that meeting (Bulls review on Monday) knowing that, from our point of view, we were not ourselves, not good enough, and made too many errors against the Bulls,” explained Lions assistant coach Ricardo Loubscher.
“We know the conditions will be a big part of the game, they like to play unstructured rugby and score tries from everywhere on the field, but from our point of view it’s all about our intent, what we take into the game, and our execution must go up a level.”
Defensive improvement
Loubscher admitted that the Lions‘ defensive game would definitely have to improve, especially after they shipped nine tries and over 50 points against the Bulls, and an attacking La Rochelle side will be licking their lips at the prospect of taking on that defence.
“I know it’s going to take a bit of time, just to just to get that cohesion and connection and I think maybe on Saturday (against the Bulls) is that when you’re not executing your role or your job, then you’re going to create those dog legs (in defence),” said Loubscher.
“I think it’s more for us just to get the connection, understand your role, execute your role and do your job. I’m looking forward to the next game and I’m sure that we’re going to get the right response from the players.”
The Lions have also set out a game plan that they hope will be able to trouble La Rochelle, and make sure that they give a good account of themselves in the match.
“The big focus against La Rochelle is just to ensure we play according to our different menus. There’s a menu for attack and defence, but it all comes down to our intent in terms of our execution in our jobs,” said Loubscher.
“If we can get that right with more alignment and clarity in terms of our way of playing, we can turn those opportunities around into points.”