Time starting to run out on Lions' playoff hopes

Time is running out for the Emirates Lions to stake their claim for a playoff spot, and if they continue their inconsistent play during this season’s Vodacom United Rugby Championship, they may well miss out on the top eight once again.

The odds look stacked against them on Saturday when they travel to Glasgow to face Franco Smith’s Warriors - the competition defending champions - after blowing a perfect chance for some valuable away points by losing a lopsided contest in Cardiff last weekend.

The loss - where the Lions dominated everything except the scoreboard - has been the latest chapter of a season where they boldly proclaimed they were looking for a top four place, started the season with a five game unbeaten run and then faded into mediocrity.

Now, given the congested log at the moment in the URC, the Lions know that every point will be vital, but it is hard to see them pulling off an upset win against the second-placed team in the competition.

The Lions loss to Cardiff has seen them fall to 13th on the log - but the congested nature of the run into the playoffs means they are just three points behind the team in eighth.

NEED A BRAVE PERFORMANCE

The next fortnight in Scotland will be a telling one for the team - especially as they need a brave performance against the Warriors and then a knockout win against Edinburgh in the EPCR Challenge Cup to try and stay alive in that competition.

Both are not impossible, but you would forgive Lions fans for wondering what team will pitch up on a weekly basis as they tend to swing heavily between the sublime and the ridiculous, and much to their own frustration.

If you look at previous logs, 50 points seems to be the cut off point for the top eight hopes, and the Lions, with five games to go, will need to have an unbelievable run at their home base in the final weeks to try and get to that number.

Sitting currently on 30 points, that means four bonus point wins in five games, and while that is by no means impossible, the bigger question is if the inconsistent Lions side can string together four consecutive good games to give themselves a chance in the playoffs.

MISSING OUT ON PLAYOFFS WOULD BE A CATASTROPHE

Missing out on the playoffs would mean that no matter how many new Springboks they have developed, they are still a team in the bottom half of the competition, and some real introspection needs to be done if the coaching team is the right one to take them forward?

If they can get on a good run and win those home games - and at the moment it seems this is their goal - they will give themselves momentum into the playoffs, but that would ultimately come with an away game against one of the tournament’s top sides.

That’s why the Cardiff game was seen as such an important game for their season, and the loss means that they now have a tougher road into the playoffs, albeit a road that is firmly in their hands.

Earlier this week the straight-shooting scrum coach Julian Redelinghuys, who tends to get given the short straw of facing the media almost weekly, expressed his frustration at the loss as well.

FRUSTRATED AT CARDIFF LOSS

“We were very frustrated after the Cardiff game. If you look at all the stats, we dominated,” Redelinghuys said.

“We were slow to react to their kicking game and too slow to fix our attacking breakdowns. They made it really tough and ugly for us. We didn’t play or do what we wanted to and still had an opportunity to fix it at the end but we couldn’t cross the line.

“We expected Cardiff to play how they did, but we didn’t adapt to the conditions as well as we could have. If we want to play well against Glasgow this weekend we need to have the ability to play in adverse conditions and go against any game plan they use.”

While Glasgow are expected to be back at full strength with their internationals returning, Redelinghuys said they needed to be ready for the challenge.

“There is a lot of work that goes into preparation for a game like Glasgow. We have a feeling they will bring back all of their Scotland internationals, and we have a good idea of what they are going to bring.

“They are second on the log for a reason. We have five games left in this competition and now we have the responsibility to put ourselves in the best possible position.

“We have an away game against Glasgow and then four matches at home that we need to be ready for. The log is congested and there are a lot of swings that have happened, especially over the last week. There are a lot of teams within a few points of each other.

“Did we worsen our chances after our loss to Cardiff? Yes, we did. Now we have to focus on Glasgow and move forward. We do realise the position we are in but we know what we need to do to end in the playoff places.”

The Lions will name their side for the clash on Friday.