Lions in SA
Lions impress Bok coaches
2009-06-12 21:35
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On top of their game (Gallo)
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Durban - Springbok assistant coaches Gary Gold and Dick Muir both agree that the British and Irish Lions are a very well organised and well balanced side.
Speaking on Friday at the Springboks training camp, Gold said he been impressed with what he’d seen from the Lions thus far on tour.
"I think almost every aspect of their game is very well coached and well organised. I think that’s the feedback from the guys who’ve played against them, everybody in the team knows what their role is and it’s perhaps not too dissimilar to where we are aspiring to get to."
After the Lions’ comprehensive win over the Sharks on Wednesday night, Sharks captain Johann Muller identified the Lions’ defence and physicality at the breakdown as two major strengths, something that Gold took note of.
"It was well documented that they did a lot of work at the breakdown after the Cheetahs game where they struggled a bit and as we saw, when they put emphasis on that area there was a marked improvement as is to be expected. This is a great team and another area I think what will be pretty effective is their kicking game and their set-pieces, so we’ll have our work cut out for us and we realise that."
Commenting on the injury cloud that hangs over influential flanker Schalk Burger, Gold said they would monitor him over the next few days before making a call on his availability.
"We have a lot of quality in this team and a wealth of depth. A lot of guys are irreplaceable but we have a squad of unbelievable rugby players."
Muir, who is coaching the Emerging Bok team who have been training with the Springboks, said he had been impressed with their work ethic.
"It’s nice to get an opportunity to work with young, talented players I haven’t worked with before. I’m quite impressed by the standards that have been set by these guys, they’ve really combined well as a group. They’ve also been good to have this week from a Bok perspective as they’ve given us some opposition in practice."