Lions to roll the dice in ‘dynamic’ derby

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Head coach Ivan van Rooyen wants the struggling Lions to “chance their arm more” on attack against the Sharks in Johannesburg on Saturday.

Speaking in a Lions conference on Tuesday, Van Rooyen revealed that outside centre Henco van Wyk has been ruled out for this weekend’s Vodacom United Rugby Championship derby at Ellis Park due to ankle surgery, and he joins flyhalf Jordan Hendrikse (shoulder), lock Reinhard Nothnagel and No 8 Francke Horne (both have ankle complaints) on the sidelines.

However, scrumhalf Sanele Nohamba and winger Rabz Maxwane have returned to training and are up for selection.

The Lions have gone 1-5 during a terrible two-month slump, with their sole victory during this period being a crucial Challenge Cup triumph against Dragons in Wales.

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The men from Joburg have also averaged 30 points conceded per match in URC losses against the Sharks, DHL Stormers, Munster, and Connacht, and are 13th in the URC standings – nine points behind the Sharks in eighth position.

Van Rooyen, though, believes The Pride are capable of matching the Sharks physically while playing with confidence. He told reporters: “We believe that the difference for us playing against other SA teams to playing European teams is the physicality, but also that they play more dynamic.

“If you look at the Stormers, Sharks and Bulls, they all attack differently but keep you under constant pressure there.

“So we know we have to chance our arm a little more on attack, and have to force them to make tackles, and take that attack to them, because if you just sit back and kick and defend, especially with the speed of the outside backs of all the SA teams, they’ll punish you.

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“Every team’s defensive system is subtly different and I know it’ll be extremely hard on our attack [to break through that]. It’s a combination of confidence and chancing your arm a little bit … sometimes to go for a 50/50 offload and not force another ruck.

“SA teams are similar to what Ulster and Leinster can do to you; if you’re just going to keep on forcing rucks, their defensive cohesion is good enough to force a turnover.”

He added: “We know we just can’t play from ruck to ruck, we have to be more dynamic on attack and also with our kicking game. If you look at the top teams – the Stormers, Bulls, Sharks, Leinsters, Ulsters, Munsters – the point of difference is currently their attacking as well as their defensive kicking game.

“[Saturday] is an opportunity for us to go head to head against a team who, if they’re slightly off on confidence it’s important for us to capitalise. If not, we’ve got to find a way to squeeze them.”

Photo: Steve Haag Sports/INPHO/Shutterstock/BackpagePix

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