Saders sink brainless Lions
31 Mar 2012
RYAN VREDE reports on the Crusaders’ 23-13 victory over a tactically naive Lions at Ellis Park.
Yet another loss where the Lions played what they deem beautiful rugby. Their supporters will settle for an ugly, deformed or downright hideous win right now.
The excuse about injuries doesn’t wash. Every team has injuries. Their problems are rooted in coach John Mitchell’s refusal to relinquish a misplaced belief in a fundamentally flawed game plan. The Lions continue to play a brand of rugby too heavily weighted to the expansive. It lacks the balance needed to make them a consistently threatening side.
The Saders were uncharacteristically porous on defence in the first half (missed 10 tackles and lacked the physicality at the gainline that has traditionally been the bedrock of their success). Yet for all their possession and territory the Lions led by just three points (13-10) at the break. They will point to missed opportunities that could have extended their lead, but those sorts of errors have become chronic.
The Saders scored with one of their first opportunities in the half, Dan Carter expertly picking out Zac Guilford’s run on his inside shoulder. It was an ominous warning for the hosts, who despite scoring a converted try just before the break, had exhibited little to inspire.
The Saders started brilliantly after the break, Sean Maitland collecting the most sublime grubber from Israel Dagg to score. Tom Taylor converted and kicked two penalties thereafter to give his side a 10-point lead.
Still the Lions had the ascendancy in the territory and possession stakes and were forcing the visitors into a plethora of tackles. But there was a marked sense of composure on defence from the seven-time champs, who committed few to the breakdown and around the ruck fringe, safe in the knowledge that the Lions would not seek to punch up close through phases.
The Lions became increasingly cavalier as their desperation grew and this suited the Saders, who isolated runners and kept their breakdown turnover count ticking over. The Lions never looked like winning. They simply didn’t have the tactical capacity for it.
Expect Mitchell to point once more to his injury list and speak of this loss as a lesson. Bullshit. He needs to be accountable for what promises to be yet another disastrous Super Rugby campaign under his watch.
369 Comments
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31 Mar 2012, 23:58 pm
Elstadt was just coming back from a long lay off and when he gave away the 3 pointer in front the poles the coaches panicked and yaked him off.. but with Elstadt and Etsebeth and Vermeulen in the same side.. there isn’t another team on the planet that could stand up to that pure enforcing krag… I hope the dumb coaches realize what their best starting combo is because today was IT..
if Stormers continue with that combo of Vermeulen, Elstadt, Kolisi at back, Koster off bench and Etsebeth, Bekker 2nd row and Kitschoff, Liebenberg / Fourie, Harris / Malherbe up front.. we can actually come away with a decent tour and hit the home stretch running..
Elstadt MUST get given more game time at 7.. that is where he will excel , Bekker, Etsebeth and Steenkamp to retain 2nd row berth and Carr, Koster to fight it out for the loosie bench spot.
1 Apr 2012, 00:01 am
Cilliers or Malherbe at 3
No 1 is Greyling, Oosthuizen, Steenkamp, Beast, Kitschoff .. in that order
Jannie Dup don’t feature because Oosthuizen can play 1 or 3 off bench
1 Apr 2012, 00:03 am
Jannie Du Plessis has lost his mojo (if he ever had it).
1 Apr 2012, 00:04 am
Agree with fuckadilly.
Cilliers has been superb in a doedpoes team.
Far more dynamic than Jannie Dup.
1 Apr 2012, 00:10 am
@ashampoopaloo(joel1yahoo)-76: I still need convincing on Malherbe. He needs play a 80 min game to impress me. Now he is getting 20 minutes against a bloke who is giving is carrots for 60 min already. If he can hold his own for 60 min + I will take notice.
Pat has been brilliant this season…. actually he started preforming at the end of the CC last year. Mitch is getting the best out of him.
That Calib from the Lions also looks promising, but too early to call.
1 Apr 2012, 00:11 am
@Tuna(Tuna)-355: oops wrong thread
1 Apr 2012, 00:58 am
RYAN VREDE
Writes “Expect Mitchell to point once more to his injury list and speak of this loss as a lesson. Bullshit. He needs to be accountable for what promises to be yet another disastrous Super Rugby campaign under his watch. “ and may I ask how many teams have you coached?
There is nothing wrong with the game plan. Anybody who says that should in my humble opinion stick to commentary on Jukskei. It was good enough to clinch the Currie Cup and get rid of the Stormers and Sharks. The Reds ,the reigning Champions are ravaged by injuries, and have suffered a number of humiliating defeats. Are you now ready to write of their coach and game plan?
The Lions are lacking in experienced talented players and against the Stormers 11 of the winning Currie Cup team were out of action. Sorry to say but even Butch James the only Bok reverted to aimless kicking. The back line looked disjointed. You cannot blame the coach if players do not stick to the game plan that served them well in the Currie Cup.
The Cheetahs have shown the benefit of fielding unchanged teams and were able to turn a huge deficit into a well earned victory. The Lions and coaching staff can only pray for speedy recovery of their more experienced players and can brace themselves for a tough match against the Cheetahs full of confidence after their comeback against the Hurricanes
1 Apr 2012, 13:55 pm
@Brentie1, moan moan moan. The lions are k@k and are being shown up in superugby. Once again last on the log and the coke tin had about 5k attending. Wtf? bring on the Kings!
1 Apr 2012, 14:05 pm
i went to coke park last night to watch the crusaders for the first time. its clear they were saving themselves for next week vs the bulls (i’ll be there too!). a few things popped into my mind while i was sitting at coke park. firstly, the lions don’t have a single international quality player (in yesterday’s 22). butch james’ international career has to be over. he’s lost the limited athletic ability that he had in the first place. and he missed a sitter to get them a BP at the death. unlike PDV, heyneke won’t be swayed by “senior” players into picking him. secondly the lions have taken their fate into their own hands by deciding to not relocate matches to Soweto. a match against the seven time champions on a month end weekend led to a stadium that was only one fifth full at best. if they are the union that’s left out of super rugby for the kings, i say so be it. where the lions play is in the middle of one of the seediest inner city neighbourhoods in south africa.
in terms of their style of play, it was no surprise to see the grubber kick try of sean maitland. i saw the exact same move being practiced in the pre-match warm up. and surprisingly for a SA team, the lions lacked physicality at the breakdown. the crusaders, for all their fluidity, resort to old school (almost) roughness whenever they are under defensive pressure at ruck time. on attack they make it a point to have the openside wing stand on the touchline, and also ensure that they have almost equal numbers of players either side of the ruck (where practical). all in all, it seems the lions are a team of the past (mostly because of their own actions on and off the field).
1 Apr 2012, 14:13 pm
“brainless”
actually, only the cerebral cortex is removed during the neurological procedure known as the ‘lobotomy’
1 Apr 2012, 14:38 pm
amazing! professional rugby might disappear from SA’s biggest city. johannesburg will not be unique though. los angeles surprisingly does not have an NFL team.
1 Apr 2012, 14:42 pm
@PrickBoks going South(PrickBoks going South)-360:
Speaking of brainless.
Did your mommy point you in the direction of wikipedia? She must be so proud of you.
1 Apr 2012, 14:43 pm
@viewer(viewer)-361:
Loftus could be an option next weekend. Tickets should be easily attainable. They usually are after a Bulls loss.
1 Apr 2012, 18:05 pm
@ashampoopaloo(joel1yahoo)-299:
Why do you want to know? Are you going to meet them all outside in the parking lot?
1 Apr 2012, 20:28 pm
Slappes posted the following ‘slappes’ (weakest) comment.
@Brentie1, moan moan moan. The lions are k@k and are being shown up in superugby. Once again last on the log and the coke tin had about 5k attending. Wtf? bring on the Kings!
The KIngs you say. Last time I heard the Lions gave them a 88 to
something hiding!!
1 Apr 2012, 20:45 pm
@Brentie1, that doesnt matter because Saru made that decision, lions to be relegated and Kings to replace them. Explain to us why ellis park is empty, why for the past 10yrs are the lions the bottom feeders? Moan moan moan
2 Apr 2012, 08:15 am
366.Slappes: writes
1 Apr 2012, 20:45 pm
@Brentie1, that doesnt matter because Saru made that decision, lions to be relegated and Kings to replace them. Explain to us why ellis park is empty, why for the past 10yrs are the lions the bottom feeders? Moan moan moan
Are you serious? I see I forget to tell you that that something by which the Kings lost, was 0, nothing, and you want to replace the Lions?
I looks that SARU and you are scatter brained and forget that one of SAZAR requirement is that participants, RSA,NZ, AUS has to field the best available teams. SARU is all ready placing pressure on Heyneke Meyer to transform the Springbok team, forgetting that test rugby is not the place to experiment. Dream on man. Have you ever been to Ellis Park? It has a seating capacity of 62000.
The average crowd watching Super rugby is between 12 and 15000 so the stadium will still appear empty even with 25000 watching.
2 Apr 2012, 09:38 am
Congratulations Stormers! Deserved winners! Wish I could drug Etsbeth and make him sign for the Sharks
2 Apr 2012, 10:00 am
@Sharksgirl(Sharksgirl)-368:
clicked on wrong thread sorry lions 
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