Alun Wyn Jones warns South Africa that Lions still have ‘a few gears to go up’
The tourists will be looking to claim an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series in Cape Town this weekend.
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Your support makes all the difference.Alun Wyn Jones has warned South Africa that the British and Irish Lions are ready to step up a gear in their pursuit of taking an unassailable lead in the series.
The Lions staged a second-half fightback to edge the world champions 22-17 in a tense first Test and the rivals clash again at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday.
South Africa were hit by a significant Covid outbreak that disrupted their preparations for the opener and are expected to attack the tourists with greater intensity this weekend.
But Jones, who will be appearing in an 11th successive Lions Test, insists there is also more to come more Warren Gatland’s tourists as they chase their place in the history books.
“A lot has been said about how South Africa are going to improve on the loss. We are expecting the game and the intensity to go up a notch across the board,” the Lions captain said.
“From our point of view, we look at that first half and see how we put ourselves under pressure and where we can improve our game, probably not just from that first half but for the full 80.
“We do feel we’ve got a few gears to go up and that’s been a large part of our focus this week. We probably didn’t execute as well as we’d have liked in that first half.
“Early on we were probably disappointed with the way we started at scrum time. I felt we were under pressure.
“But our set-piece came through and our management improved drastically in the second half.
“We did well to turn the scoreboard around and we just want to make sure that we don’t give ourselves too much of a deficit in that early area of the game.”
A feature of the first Test was the Lions matching the world champions in the pack, taking away a pillar of their game to help claim a famous victory behind closed doors in Cape Town.
We are expecting the game and the intensity to go up a notch across the board.
South Africa have opted for a six-two split between forwards and backs on the bench to indicate they intend asserting themselves up-front to avoid a first series defeat to the tourists since 1997.
“The second Test is going to be more of the same. They have got a six-two split which is more of what they’re used to in the way they select their squad,” Jones said.
“I’m sure there will be an increased emphasis on the set-piece from them and they’ll be trying to get more set-pieces.
“It will be help, in simple terms, for more forwards to come on and try to get authority in that area in the game.
“A lot of it on our part is execution and game management early on in the game. We’ve got elements of game management around the set-piece and a couple of ‘comms’ areas that we need to sort out early on in the game.”
Jones confirmed that fly-half Ban Biggar has resumed training with the Lions. The Wales fly-half has been undergoing the return to play protocols for concussion.
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