Lions need to show heart and attitude
Defence coach Jaque Fourie lambastes team for ‘terrible’ tackling
Lions defence coach Jaque Fourie is not prepared to defend the indefensible.
An absence of what he described as "heart and attitude" contributed to 10 tries scored against the Lions in their two most recent matches.
Last Saturday the Bulls walloped them 34-10 at Ellis Park in a match in which their defensive lines were breached with far too much ease.
“In the last two games our defence was terrible. I am not going to beat about the bush about that. There's certain stuff we have to work on,” said Fourie, who played in 72 Tests.
Lions face running of the Bulls again
The Lions have a lot to work on ahead of the return clash against the same opposition at Loftus this Saturday.
“Unfortunately we can coach only so much,” sighed Fourie.
“If the players don't have attitude, work rate and heart to do it for each other you can only go so far.”
Abdicating defensive responsibilities carries a heavy cost against a team as brutish as the Bulls.
“The Bulls are a physical side. If you let them run at you for 80 minutes they are going to give you a hiding.
“For us it is about manning up this weekend. Front up and make our tackles. Unfortunately that is something I can't do t for the players on the field. We worked really hard at it over the past two days.”
Fourie is keen to inculcate the "all for one" ethos.
“Unfortunately if you don't have heart and attitude, you can only take a horse so far. You can take him to the water but you can't force him to drink. It's about getting these guys to play for each other every game. It's about the respect for the player inside and outside of you.
“Knowing he's going to do his job just like you are doing yours. It's a team sport.”
URC turning point
Fourie said this weekend is a turning point in the Lions' URC campaign.
“We are not going to allow teams to score easy tries against us. We work really hard to score tries, so conceding easy tries is not the way we want to play.”
Given what transpired last weekend, the task facing them this week seems monumental.
He said they have done “certain things” to be ready physically and mentally for this weekend's challenge.
“Playing the same team, there will probably be one or two changes to their game plan.”
The Lions will be without lock Willem Alberts, who has a knee injury, while Burger Odendaal looks likely to miss the match through concussion.
“With Burger it will be touch and go. With concussion there are so many protocols in place that if you have concussion one week it is very tough for you to play the next weekend,” said Odendaal.