Northern Edition

Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

Lions coach De Bruin pleads with ref for 'fair deal' as Crusaders 'get away with more'

Lions head coach De Bruin

Lions coach Swys de Bruin plans to raise his concerns over the Crusaders’ tactics to match officials ahead of Saturday’s Super Rugby final, asking for a ‘fair deal’ as the Crusaders are good at ‘getting away with stuff’.

ADVERTISEMENT

Ahead of the game, De Bruin wants to speak to Australian referee Angus Gardner regarding their opponents bending the rules.

“They can’t – because they are champions and people think they are good – get away with certain stuff,” he said.

“And I will make sure we meet with the refs about that.

“Because going through their clips – and you guys know me, I speak from the heart – there is a lot of things they get away with, more than other teams get away with.

Video Spacer

“Like the offside line, like the hit on the left hand-side on the loosehead, stuff like that. So I will have that talk like that to them.

“We need a fair deal, all we ask is a fair deal and I hope we will get it.”

Lions will already be at a disadvantage this weekend, though, as they have to travel to Christchurch for the title showdown. A planned late arrival for the three-time finalists could be disruptive to the preparations.

“We are not looking at that as a team, we are looking at the positives. But it is things that I have to address and make sure,” de Bruin said on supersport.com.

ADVERTISEMENT

“There is a reason why there are 10 metres at a scrum, I looked at TJ Perenara when he touched that ball they are already five metres away, it can’t be. They have to be 10 until the ball is out. Those are the little things that we will address.”

Video Spacer

The South African team produced a stirring second-half display to see off the Waratahs 44-26 and reach the final for a third successive season.

They will be hoping for a change in fortunes, however, having lost out to the Hurricanes in 2016 before suffering a 25-17 defeat to reigning champions Crusaders last year at home.

ADVERTISEMENT

 

ADVERTISEMENT

LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

N
Nickers 29 minutes ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

I thought we made a lot of progress against that type of defence by the WC last year. Lots of direct running and punching holes rather than using width. Against that type of defence I think you have to be looking to kick on first phase when you have front foot ball which we did relatively successfully. We are playing a lot of rugby behind the gain line at the moment. They are looking for those little interchanges for soft shoulders and fast ball or off loads but it regularly turns into them battering away with slow ball and going backwards, then putting in a very rushed kick under huge pressure.


JB brought that dimension when he first moved into 12 a couple of years ago but he's definitely not been at his best this year. I don't know if it is because he is being asked to play a narrow role, or carrying a niggle or two, but he does not look confident to me. He had that clean break on the weekend and stood there like he was a prop who found himself in open space and didn't know what to do with the ball. He is still a good first phase ball carrier though, they use him a lot off the line out to set up fast clean ball, but I don't think anyone is particularly clear on what they are supposed to do at that point. He was used really successfully as a second playmaker last year but I don't think he's been at that role once this year. He is a triple threat player but playing a very 1 dimensional role at the moment. He and Reiko have been absolutely rock solid on defence which is why I don't think there will be too much experimentation or changes there.

41 Go to comments
TRENDING
TRENDING All Blacks XV player ratings vs Munster | Autumn Nations Series All Blacks XV player ratings vs Munster
Search