Lions getting the balance right

Earlier in the season the Lions were labelled as a team that only employs an all-out attacking game, but there is suddenly a lot more balance to their approach.

Veteran midfield Lionel Mapoe, speaking to rugby365 ahead of the encounter with the Africa Conference table-topping Stormers, said there has been a concerted effort to bring more balance into their game.

In fact in the two games they have lost - 15-34 to the Highlanders in Dunedin and 37-43 to the Crusaders in Johannesburg - their tactics were at the heart of those defeats.

However, they showed in the 24-9 win against the Sharks in Durban last week that they do possesses a kicking game as well.

"It is good to have that balance and know when to kick," Mapoe said, adding: "Last week we got the balance right.

"It is important that you have the ability to change during the game, if the situation requires it.

"It is great that we are now getting that balance right."

He admitted the two defeats showed that they needed to be more flexible.

"Yes, there were some wrong decisions and at times poor executions that cost us.

"In one of those games we could have won if we got that [decision-making and execution] right.

"In the Highlanders game we didn't get the transition - between attack and kicking - right.

"We worked hard after the Crusaders game to get that balance right.

"It is going to be vital to get that balance right going forward."

Mapoe admitted that they are still some way off from having the perfect game.

"As we saw last week [against the Sharks] it is not 100 percent yet," Mapoe told rugby365.

"We are well aware that we have a lot to work on.

"While we are striving for the perfect game, there are those little things [we are doing wrong].

"We have worked on eradicating those things from our game ahead of this weekend's encounter with the Stormers."

Mapoe also said the Lions realise Saturday is a big game in terms of the Africa conference.

He said ball retention will be the key to victory on Saturday.

"As always our focus will be on our own game and our execution.

"It will require a massive team effort [to win].

"We can't rely on individuals to break down the Stormers' wall down.

"Everybody knows how good their defence is.

"However, if we stick to our gameplan, have patience and retain possession the result will take care of itself.

"We have a plan on how to play them, we just need to stick to those structures and we need to persist for 80 minutes."

By Jan de Koning

@rugby365com