Loffie lauds Lions effort
3 Jul 2006
Lions coach Eugene Eloff is disappointed to have lost to an impressive Bulls side, but is adamant that the Lions are making steady progress.
“You can’t deny that their has been a marked difference in the Lions game,” Eloff told keo.co.za. “The players are trying to create opportunities and things are going very well in this respect.”
Eloff’s upbeat attitude emanates from the performance of his youngsters in particular. “They are starting to gel and they continue to impress me with the way they deal with the pressure,” he said.
The Bulls outmuscled the Lions to a huge extent in the tight, and it was only at the breakdown that the men from Johannesburg stood much of a chance. But despite a few desperate tackles to deny Pedrie Wanneburg a couple more five-pointers, the Lions poor defence was their most detracting aspect.
“We let in two very soft tries, and when you look at the scoreboard, 14 points make all the difference,” said Eloff. “We will need to focus on this area of the game if we are going to challenge the Cheetahs this weekend.”
The Cheetahs made short work of the Valke in Brakpan on Friday, beating them by 66 points to 9 and scoring 10 tries in the process.
“We are also a new team with new structures,” said Eloff, “and it’s going to take a bit longer to click. I’m glad that we have started the campaign with two really tough matches against the Sharks and the Bulls, so the players won’t be allowed to settle into a false sense of security.”
Meanwhile, negotiations between the former Spears and SA U21 flyhalf Isma-eel Dollie and the Golden Lions Rugby Union continue. Dollie had a fantastic tournament in France and has been looking to join up with one of the top sides for the Currie Cup.
“At the moment, they are still busy negotiating,” said Eloff, “but from my personal point of view, I am quite excited, as I’ve worked with Isma-eel before and would love to have him as part of our set-up.”
By Jon Cardinelli
22 Comments
3 Jul 2006, 10:59 am
First to call his statement a joke. weak tackling, weak scrum, weak team.
3 Jul 2006, 11:03 am
steady progress?
sounds like we got shafted from start to finish.
3 Jul 2006, 11:03 am
They have some promising youngsters in the backline.
3 Jul 2006, 11:07 am
Very young and new team .. so I not going to panic to much yet.
I was glad to see all the new talent, from the Lions and bulls sides.
3 Jul 2006, 11:11 am
I like Jano Vermaak he is one for the future,he is even from my old School HTS Vereeniging!!
3 Jul 2006, 11:20 am
Ludik and Vermaak played well
3 Jul 2006, 11:26 am
Nou koop hulle vir Dollie ook? Hoeveel flyhalfs wil hulle nou he?
3 Jul 2006, 11:26 am
This a CC team, not an academy. I like Ludick, Vermaak, dolie and whatever.
I don’t like the perpetual ‘progress’, ‘learning from the past’ or whatever. Ellis Park is empty because the hamster that represents the Golden Lions intellectual and coaching capability, got bored with his wheel and wnet to play for the Bulls.
3 Jul 2006, 11:32 am
Hamster?
3 Jul 2006, 12:16 pm
staal ons sal aanhou flyhalves koop tot ons een kry wat kan jol!
3 Jul 2006, 12:28 pm
Ja redcard!
Toe verloor jou welpies alweer? Vermaak en Ludik het vir my goed gespeel en Harris kan skop!
3 Jul 2006, 13:06 pm
First good news for this Monday is that Daniel Muller is moving to France……..Hip Hip Horay!
Now it’s just Pietman, Van der Walt & the rest of the so called old men to move along.
The young ones are impressing me very much. Hopefully Heinke will get a call up from Loffie. Bertus should be almost fit again.
Baywatch should be back for Saturday and Wikus can move back to blind side with Ernst back to eight man, Roland should be on the bench for Saturday. Ettiene Reyneke to start, wow what a hooker. Fired up just like Schalk Brits. Very impressive. Mark had a decent game and can really kick. Ludik, well he will improve with every game.
The team is almost complete!
3 Jul 2006, 13:22 pm
LionsinPta,
its only a matter of time before we are no 1 again.
3 Jul 2006, 13:41 pm
Julle leeus is darem maar n optimistiese klomp! Julle le gelyk onder op die log en julle spel is nie iets om oor huis toe te skryf nie…
Kry regtig al vir Wikus jammer. Hy moet elke week na die game probeer positief bly en voor die game hoop dis die keer wat die leeus/cats regkom.
Moet se Vermaak en Ludik het my beindruk!
3 Jul 2006, 14:12 pm
Die 1ste helfte het nie te sleg gegaan nie, daar was maar net 1 punt verskil, dis net in die 2de helfte wat die tackling ons ‘n bietjie in die steek gelaat het.
Vermaak & Ludik speel goed, maar Jaco Pretorius maak ook ‘n verskil, hy sit sy manne lekker in spasie en maak ook die lyn mooi reguit.
3 Jul 2006, 14:14 pm
ha ha lofie, i laff in urs faces…
3 Jul 2006, 15:17 pm
Cab maybe not this year, but Loffie is doing good with the team. He is really brining in the young guns.
Suparugby, how would you feel if you are on the recieving end for most of the year so far? The boys need to get a few wins under the belt. Like I said Loffie needs to get rid of the so called “old” men.
Well I am 110% behind Loffie. It was the best move to appoint him as coach.
It the first time in a long time that decent young players are coming through the ranks.
By moving a Wikus back to blind side his game should improve and he must admit now that he won’t be in the Bok line up and just play decent game and concentrate on the CC.
3 Jul 2006, 16:38 pm
I support Loffie in giving the youngsters an opportunity. I think he should play Jody Rose at flyhalf. He had a good first outing against the Sharks. I rate Jody before Dollie.
3 Jul 2006, 21:53 pm
Just give it time and solid coaching… like Muir with the Sharks, and our Leeutjies will ROAR!!
Not winning yet, but I like the way they playing.
4 Jul 2006, 05:13 am
The Lions will rise again.
4 Jul 2006, 08:35 am
The Roses and Dollie are not the solution to our problem at 10. What happened to the rumour that they were going to get Carlos Spencer for us…that would have been great!
4 Jul 2006, 11:37 am
This game proved two things:
1) You can’t miss tackles.
2) Wikus is not an open side specialist.
If the Lions had of played a better Loose Trio they could have won this game. It is encouraging to see that we are prepared to let the youngsters have a run but tackles at this level are vital. The try at the start of the second half was all down to poor defense.
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