Blues extend Lions’ losing streak
4 Mar 2011
JON CARDINELLI reports on the Blues’ 41-32 bonus-point win against the Lions at Ellis Park.
Earlier this week, a few eyebrows were raised when Pat Lam announced his Blues team to tackle the Lions. Questions were asked why Lam had decided to bench several All Blacks stars, although it was clear Lam had taken a number of factors into consideration.
Lam would have anticipated a Lions onslaught in the first half, and he would have expected the Blues to feel the effects of altitude as the game reached half-time. It made sense to keep some of his best players in reserve; to save his All Blacks gamebreakers for the deciding second half.
It couldn’t have panned out better for the Blues. They showcased their counterattacking threat in the opening quarter, and nailed some important kicks. They took their foot off the proverbial pedal in the second quarter and even had Kurtis Haiu sent to the sin bin, but only trailed 25-17 at the break.
What followed was a period of play that saw the Blues outscore the Lions 24-7. The Blues bench made a huge impact, with Keven Mealamu adding more grunt and Daniel Braid making some crucial breakdown steals. Rene Ranger also contributed two tries to the visitors’ cause, and made a great cover tackle to deny the Lions a losing bonus point at the death.
It was a free-running extravaganza from start to finish, but it was also a game of pressure. The Lions made a number of tactical errors, kicking on dangerous counterattacking exponents like Joe Rokocoko, who sparked the Blues’ first two tries. The hosts scored some great tries over the course of the game, but the final analysis will show that they left at least three five-pointers on the field.
Elton Jantjies kicked five goals from six attempts, and had a hand in several tries, but was again very inconsistent. It’s hard to praise him for what he did right when his mistakes cost the Lions at crucial periods.
He was rounded all too easily by opposite number Luke McAlister, a crucial defensive error that allowed the Blues to regain the lead in the 56th minute. Jantjies then dropped a simple pass right on his own tryline to hand the Blues a scrum, and from there the visitors scored the try that would seal the result.
That’s not to say the Lions didn’t play some exciting rugby. Their loose trio was full of running, Derick Minnie and Warren Whiteley getting around the park and featuring with some sharp offloading. Josh Strauss was a menace on the ground, and fullback Jaco Taute was a constant attacking threat from the back.
But it was a high-risk attacking approach that often led to turnovers. The Lions still don’t have the precision to match their pace, and they continue to blow try-scoring opportunities. It seems the pattern of play is too fast for their chief decision-makers, who often battle to find support runners once they have broken the line.
For all of their improvement, they are still without a win in the 2011 competition and have now lost 17 games on the trot. Their fans will point to the four tries scored, but they are losing close encounters because they don’t have the players that thrive under pressure.
While his goal-kicking was much improved, Janjties was shown up in the composure department. John Mitchell has backed him publicly, but if the youngster continues to cost the team games, it won’t be long before Mitchell turns to a more experienced if less exciting option.
319 Comments
Pages: « 1 2 3 4 5 6 [7] Show All
5 Mar 2011, 07:47 am
heartbreak again for Lions….could so easily have been another win….dont lose faith Lions….you okes are certainly playing positive rugby, helleva entertaining compared to the robotic stuff i no dobt will be seeing later today at newlands!
I also watched the Pampas game…damn there is some decent Argie talent there as well…
5 Mar 2011, 07:53 am
@nama1(nama1)-295:
Old age creeping in
5 Mar 2011, 08:00 am
@nama1(nama1)-296:
Murray’s actually a Quota victim
His developement next to Brad Barritt was interrupted when Muir brought on Jacobs to make up the quota numbers.
He was solid yesterday, and made several good breaks and tackles, but the whole unstructured defence of the Lions affected him, on two occasions in the 1st half he tried desperately to plug holes left by Mapoe and Killian and missed cricial tackles which made him look bad.
5 Mar 2011, 08:01 am
cricia=crucial
5 Mar 2011, 08:26 am
Lions captaincy is a problem, inexcuseable that they didnt at least get the bonus point. They shouldve gone for the three pointer first time. Whole team suffering from white line fever. getting the try after you within range would also have been easier. The panic that sets in the defending team realising that they can lose the match often leads to penalties and or someone breaking the defensive structure.
I also blame Mitch cause there is no way you can expect your team to run every ball from deep. They were actually also competing well at the lineouts. The lions will get there though as far as i am concerned they doing better at this time of the coach’s regime than the bulls did under heyneke. The bulls now know how to win and do not do silly stuff like trying to run every ball from deep etc. They sure did suck though early 2000 etc.
Point I am trying to make is that structure is something you learn with time. The lions are clearly playing according to instructions and some of those are just dumb. The players will also be penalised in my opinion if they stray from this structure. No flyhalf in SA will shine if he is expected to run with every ball especially from his 22. They should have other skills like clearing their line under pressure, tactical kicking like up and unders etc. It just does not seem to me if those are allowed under the way the lions currently play. Its almost like harry viljoens no kicking policy with the boks in argentina and we know what almost happened in that match.
5 Mar 2011, 08:30 am
Taute sure is shutting some mouths here on this blog after they bashed him in round 1. Barring serious injury… future Springbok fullback hands down.
5 Mar 2011, 09:52 am
what is that 17 and 0?
5 Mar 2011, 10:07 am
@NZINCHINA(NZINCHINA)-297: @poppa69(poppa69)-300: Well done to your Blues last night.
5 Mar 2011, 10:20 am
taute a revelation…what a prosoect…..so too Minnie , Chabal and Whiteley.
Whiteley reminds me a bit of Teichmann….loose limbed, rangy and helleva quick and a lot stronger than he appears!
Dont lose heart Lions….continue to be bold and innovative….you boys will shut up some detractors soon!
5 Mar 2011, 10:43 am
MTN Please call me lions should top focussing on Quotas etc … first get a winning culture! … played 3 = lost 3 including a hiding from a Blues “B’ team …. The Kings would have had the same record … bye bye Lions, quota Jantjies, Maku & waylon costs you guys big time!!
5 Mar 2011, 10:45 am
Dont lose heart Lions….continue to be bold and innovative….you boys will shut up some detractors soon!
sheesh, i heard that the last 6 seasons now …. send the whole lions team to Libia!
5 Mar 2011, 10:56 am
@grant10(grant10)-309: when Grant? What century?
5 Mar 2011, 11:05 am
The Lions has the makings of a great team. With Butch James at flyhalf, they will play proper rugby, defend much better and be very difficult to contain. Jano Vermaak should also stay on the park.
5 Mar 2011, 11:10 am
I would play Jantjies as impact player on inside centre. That way he’ll really learn from James how to handle the inside channel. 2 or 3 seasons playing between James and Murray will give him all the confidence and experience he currently lacks.
5 Mar 2011, 11:11 am
I doubt Charlie Sheen could make the Lions win, let alone Chuck Norris.
5 Mar 2011, 11:36 am
@Tomatoboy_ralepelle(quota_conrad_jantjies_is_jorrie_muller)-310: Maku is the first black hooker worth a serious look. Not in the same league as Bismarck, but nobody else is.
Murray is also one of the better non-white prospects around at centre. He doesn’t have the flair and game breaking abilities of the WP trio, but again, who else has?
Jantjies is way out of his depth at the moment. He has been pushed to early and like Gaffie du Toit 13 years ago might easily turn into the youngest has-been in the game by 23.
5 Mar 2011, 11:37 am
Promising doesn’t win you games.Lions are suffering from the lack
of an experienced flyhalf. First Blues try came from ill directed kick.
Jantjies is promising but should be in a winning team and not be expected
to win games,he is just not experienced enough.
Come on Lions find a flyhalf that can kick sixty meters and take his forwards
to the red zone and rumble over for tries.First matter on the agenda is
to try and lure Alberts and Deysel back because they are needed to shore up
the front five and score tries from 5 – 10 metre out.
5 Mar 2011, 11:58 am
@Puma(Puma)-308:
Cheers, they will be hard to beat back at the garden of Eden and coming away with some points from SA is a good result.
5 Mar 2011, 15:01 pm
jajaja agree with Grant10, Strauss is the afrikaner caveman, the south african Chabal. And i hope he will be better player
Pages: « 1 2 3 4 5 6 [7] Show All
Have your say
You must be logged in to post a comment.