Attitude over structure as Bok legend Jaque Fourie sees '100% better' Lions defence

Lions defence coach Jaque Fourie believes the Lions' marking has been "100% better" already in this season's fledgling URC season than in last year's inaugural campaign.

Despite conceding four tries in last weekend's 28-27 victory over the Ospreys, it was a marked improvement in the men from Doornfontein's tackling as the robustness of their hits eventually troubled their Welsh hosts.

And that's what Fourie, a legendary Springbok midfielder, has been preaching all along.

In the end, attitude outweighs too much structure.

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"I can never fault the guys' effort. From the first whistle, every time we made contact, it was big contact. So, I can't fault the guys. Now we just need to work together," he said, ahead of Friday night's meeting with Cardiff.

"As the game went on, we started working together as a team and as a unit, and in the second half, they started playing deeper and deeper and kicking more."So, I think they felt it. I think we were hurting them a little bit."

There's an interesting debate to be had over the Lions' defending, to be honest.

While Fourie has always been at the front of the line to acknowledge that the team can improve its prowess in that regard, one has to question whether their defence has really been as bad as many perceive it to have been.

Conceding 55 tries in last season's edition meant the Lions were the leakiest defence in the South African Shield, yet seven other teams still let in more than they did.

At the very least, it suggests there's something to work with.

15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Edwill van der Merwe, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Marius Louw, 11 Quan Horn, 10 Gianni Lombard, 9 Sanele Nohamba, 8 Francke Horn, 7