• Lions assistant coach Ricardo Loubscher is convinced the team is on the cusp of a meaningful “turnaround” in this year’s URC.
• Some of the performances on tour were indeed encouraging in terms of grit and determination, but stats suggest they can do much better.
• The Lions hope to be more expansive on home soil in more conducive conditions, but it will require technical execution.
• For more sports news, go to the News24 Sport front page.

For the long-suffering Ellis Park faithful, the question remains the same throughout: When is the turnaround truly coming? 

It’s a line that was bandied about again by Lions assistant coach Ricardo Loubscher earlier this week in light of another difficult start to a URC campaign.

One win from five starts is not a return to write home about – and Loubscher hardly tries to plaster over that fact – but the former Springbok fullback believes that record still represents a decent platform for his charges to kick-start their campaign.

Part of that sentiment is rooted in a collection of four bonus points for losing within seven points or less, as well as a challenging four-week overseas leg being a thing of the past now.

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The Lions can now look forward to a run of outings on home soil that, in theory, really should translate into positive, tangible results, starting with Saturday’s meeting with Zebre in Doornfontein.

To argue that a decent platform has been laid isn’t a fanciful notion because there were genuinely some encouraging scorelines.

The Lions came within one point of toppling Edinburgh, who a few weeks later would topple the high-flying Bulls, beat Scarlets in Llanelli, and gave the accomplished Ulster various frights before the error rate in the second half caught up with them.

Ironically, those performances highlighted the fundamental problem that continues to blight their true progress: oodles of guts and determination in the absence of consistent tactical and technical execution.

Now, back at home where they tend to have more conviction when it comes to living out their more expansive blueprint, they need to marry the two aspects, especially since their form at Ellis Park (and to a lesser extent around the country) tends to feature more attractive rugby but less composure to pull things through.

Nonetheless, the first order of business is still to get the execution right.

While there’s consensus that this year’s edition has been pleasingly tight and competitive – which the Lions have contributed to – the team’s season statistics are somewhat sobering.

Despite a growing demand from supporters for them to play a more expansive game, the Lions have actually “played” a lot of rugby.

Last weekend’s loss to Ulster was the first time this season that they didn’t enjoy the majority of possession (48%), yet still enjoyed 55% territory.

In all of their outings, ball and field position was in abundance – Stormers (58% possession, 56% territory), Edinburgh (61%, 57%), Zebre (58%, 56%) and Scarlets (51%, 53%). 

Little wonder then they’ve only been required to complete an average 100 tackles per game.

However, the rewards haven’t been plentiful.

The Lions only average 2.4 tries per game as well as 20 points per game, which are both on the lower end of 2023’s scale.

They hold up relatively well in the physical stakes, completing 119 carries and beating 18 defenders per game, but only gain an average of 322 metres per 80 minutes, 12th out of the 15 teams.

It’s time for a bigger punch that’s accompanied with points on the scoreboard.

That’s why the Lions are planning to be more ambitious in conducive, if somewhat enervating summer weather.

“We discussed it on tour [that we perhaps didn’t go wide enough at times],” said Loubscher.

“Our plan remains to get the ball to the edges as much as possible all the time. Of course, it’s dependent on how your opposition is defending and, on other occasions, the weather conditions have an impact. 

“But there’s no doubt, we’re sitting with backs that can create havoc on the edges. In terms of opportunities, it would be great to give them those opportunities now.” 

Why then wasn’t that pursued more aggressively in the preceding weeks? 

“When you play in the URC, you need two different styles – you need a plan for wet weather and for home,” said Loubscher.

“It’s about being flexible and, hopefully, we now have conditions where we can show our ball-in-hand ability and what we’re capable of.”

Given their lowly position on the log, a top eight finish already feels distant at this early stage of the campaign, which, to some, may suggest a renewed focus on throwing the ball around amounts to nothing more than throwing caution to the wind.

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Such a perception would be off the mark though. 

“Every game is important. There’s so much time and effort going into preparation that we’re never going into a game where we don’t pursue anything less than victory,” said Loubscher.

“There aren’t targets to certain games, like which game should we be winning and which one would be a good opportunity for bonus points. All we’re thinking is that we’re in the fight [in terms of the play-offs].

“There’s truly a belief that the turning point isn’t far away.” 

Kick-off on Saturday is at 14:55.