JOHANNESBURG - Whether rain or shine, a cold snap or a heatwave, through triumph and despair, nothing can weather the commitment, the will to win, and the unity of the Golden Lions, according to Springbok wing Courtnall Skosan.
“There will always be stuff to work on,” said Skosan yesterday. “There will always be a need for improvement that we will need to make in the week.
"We are working really hard and that is the nice thing about this team: Everyone is putting in the effort, everyone is trying to help one another.
“We are doing our analysis, we are spending time together, we are training very well ... in time, everything will click a little bit more and then we will get that one game where it all goes for you. Everything just sticks, and then you get the 'perfect’ game.
“We will get there eventually.” Although Skosan is loath to believe in a “perfect” game, the Lions will nevertheless have to be at their best to take advantage of the weaknesses of a Western Province team packed with world cup winners.
“You never know what WP are coming with,” said Skosan. “They played a certain type of game at times in SuperRugby Unlocked and then last week they played a little bit of a different game.
“We are doing our analysis and hopefully we can prepare for whatever they bring to us. And if it is a bomb (a kicking game of up-andunders), we are going to have to take it, if it is a running game, we are going to have to take that, too. Hopefully, we are prepared in all departments and for whatever they throw at us, we are ready to go.
“There is no specific guy you can highlight (in the WP team),” the Lions veteran ventured forth. As a unit they work together very well.
So, you focus on a team's systems, units, certainly the things that they do specifically, and I think we have prepared well enough for that.”
Last weekend against Griquas, the Lions started off slow but eventually in a 15-minute period interspersed with the half-time break, they finally found their footing and put the Kimberley-based side to the sword. The weather had the final say in that encounter, prematurely ending the match 20-17 in favour of the bracescoring Skosan and his teammates.
Rain is expected tomorrow but the lightning and thunder associated with the Highveld is thankfully not on the cards. Not that it matters, according to the 29-year-old.
“I don't think a player ever wants to think about stuff (the possibility of a game being called off due to lightning) like that,” said Skosan.
“We are prepared to play 80, 90 minutes, however long it takes to get the result.
“We will never think that the weather might help us, or it might not help us, or be against us. Once you start thinking like that, you will totally be off where you need to be.
“The important thing is getting onto the field and from minute one start firing by getting your processes in play, so that you can get the result and points on the board.”
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