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High praise for "unreal" Lions lock
By Online Editors
Lions head coach Swys de Bruin was full of praise for Franco Mostert's versatility during their 49-35 win over the Bulls in Pretoria.
Lions lock Mostert's selection at openside flanker had plenty of eyebrows raising ahead of the South African derby at Loftus Versfeld.
However, the 27-year-old made good on his selection in the No. 7 jumper.
Towards the end of the game against the Bulls, De Bruin moved Mostert back to his preferred position at lock, but later revealed that it is good knowing that Mostert can fill the role of flanker in the future.
"I must say I was nervous but knowing Franco and the way he plays, he is quick and he can run all over," De Bruin said.
"He was absolutely unreal."
"He can play seven or lock anytime now. I think the ice is broken".
The Lions outscored the Bulls by seven tries to four on Saturday and continued their perfect start to the 2018 Super Rugby campaign with three wins from three matches played.
Credit has to go to the Lions' ability to dominate the Bulls' at the lineout and breakdown during the encounter - something which Lions captain Warren Whiteley highlighted.
"I thought we performed really well," he said.
"Our mauls were really good. I thought we fought every single breakdown, every maul and I'm just really proud of the boys."
The Lions currently sit top of the Super Rugby table with 13 points from three matches, however, Whiteley is not getting carried away by his team's perfect start to the season and believes that there is still plenty of work to be done.
"It’s a good start but we all know Super Rugby isn’t won in February and March.
"We just need to keep building and there’s still quite a lot to work on.
"There were times especially at the end where I thought we could have kept them [Bulls] out, one or two soft moments. But some great positives and we will just keep building," added Whiteley.
The Lions next fixture is against the Blues at Ellis Park in Johannesburg.
Courtesy of Josh Isaacson @isaacson_j
@rugby365com
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There is nothing particularly significant about Ireland in this regard compared to other Tier 1 nations. To look at 'strategy' for illegal play its best to see what teams push boundaries with new laws. SA have milked two tries at ruck block downs. The strategy is to charge the first few before the ball is out at about 4 seconds but pull out and put up hands in reigned apology. The referees usually allow the scum half to clear without awarding a penalty in this scenario. The problem with that being that the scrumhalf is now taking over 5 seconds through no fault of his own. Having achieved a few slow balls > 5s , the SA forward can now pick a scrum to charge dead on 5s. Now if the scrum half waits, he will concede a penalty, as we saw against Scotland. With the new rule in place, any early charge should result in an immediate penalty.
SA also got an offside block against England which was pivotal again after a couple of 'apologetic' offside aborted charges forcing England to clear slowly.
Go to commentsYep, you're not the sharpest tool in the shed are you?
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