— Cape Town Lions assistant coach Jaque Fourie believes they are “one hundred percent better” than they were in the debut United Rugby Championship season (URC).
The Lions defeated the Ospreys 28-27 at Swansea.com Stadium over the weekend after losing to the Bulls at Ellis Park in round one.
The Johannesburg club was the only South African team not to qualify for the Champions Cup after finishing 12th in the URC last season.
The Lions won only their third URC match on foreign soil in round two, giving the South African teams a perfect record.
Reflecting on the game, Fourie applauded the team’s conduct in Swansea.
“It was a close contest… I believe we did fairly well in the end to prevail. The former Springbok center stated from Wales on Monday ahead of Friday’s match against Cardiff, “I think the team’s character will go a long way in helping us” (8.35pm kick-off).
“Having said that, I believe we had a number of opportunities, and we should not have conceded a number of simple tries. We will work on this during the week and have it completed by the weekend.
“I never find issue with the lads’ effort. From the first whistle, every contact we made was a significant one. Thus, I cannot fault the men. Now we must simply collaborate.
“As the game progressed, we began cooperating as a team and a unit, and in the second half, they began playing deeper and kicking more.
Thus, I believe they sensed it. I believe we caused them a little bit of harm.”
In reference to the inaugural URC season, Fourie stated, “I believe we are 100 percent better than last year. It’s our second year in the system, and I believe the players are just now truly grasping it as the coaches intend.
20% of the game is set-piece and 80% is unstructured, so we are spending a great deal of time on our organized defense and the other 20% on vacuum defense and line-out defense.
“From that point on, it’s simply a matter of defending what’s in front of you: going up, making tackles, and slowing down their ball.”
After defeating Cardiff, they will face Edinburgh on October 7 before returning to South Africa to play Ulster at Ellis Park on October 15.
Fourie emphasized that international performance and home-field advantage are equally crucial.
“We are aware that going on tour, we must get off to a strong start. A year ago, we were likely eliminated by two games, and had we won them, we may have advanced to the quarterfinals.
Therefore, we must take our chances abroad, and we must also have a strong start when we return home.