The Emirates Lions have won one of their last six matches during a terrible two-month slump, however, CEO Rudolf Straeuli remains positive despite admitting the team isn’t in sync.
The Lions’ sole victory during this period came in a crucial Challenge Cup triumph against Dragons in Wales, which earned them a Round of 16 matchups at home against Racing 92 on 1 April.
But of greater concern is the average of 30 points conceded per match in Vodacom United Rugby Championship losses against the Sharks, Stormers, Munster, and Connacht. The Lions have dropped to 13th in the URC standings, nine points behind the Sharks in eighth position, although they still have a game in hand over most of their rivals.
“We know we didn’t have a good tour, we came unstuck against the Stormers, which was maybe a bit of a confidence deflator. Against the South African franchises, we must do better."
“We are quite comfortable that we can handle the overseas franchises. I think it is against the Sharks and the Bulls that is going to be our toughest competition, we must play a bit of a different style," Straeuli said.
“We’ve had too many individual mistakes and we have been giving away possession to our opposition, who have been running at us and attacking us with that possession.”
Although the Emirates Lions still have six matches remaining to improve their position in the United Rugby Championship and possibly still secure a Top 8 finish, Saturday's match against the Cell C Sharks at Ellis Park is an absolutely must-win.
“It will be a good character test for us as management and as players, we know the position that we are in. The players have been training and working in this rain and working on those mistakes.”
