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Cape Town - The Lions will need to shore up their defence if they are to remain competitive in this year’s Super Rugby competition, former Springbok coach Nick Mallett believes.
The men from Johannesburg ran in eight tries in a 55-36 victory over the Waratahs at the weekend.
But the Sydneysiders themselves crossed the whitewash five times in what was a try-fest at Ellis Park.
“This was an incredibly loose game. You’re not going very far in the competition if you concede five tries, even if you score eight yourself. The Lions need to really tighten up on defence,” Mallett said in the SuperSport studio afterwards.
Mallett though was impressed by the performance of scrumhalf Ross Cronje, who produced a man-of-the-match performance after starting ahead of Springbok Faf de Klerk.
“Ross Cronje deserved the man-of-the-match award. He doesn’t have the most fantastic pass in the world, but he is a nuggety, gritty player who makes defences concentrate because of his good step around the fringes and he tends to make good decisions with his passing under pressure.”
The Lions are off to Argentina this week where they will tackle the Jaguares in Buenos Aires on Saturday (21:40 SA time).
