Same ol' story: Lions want to play running rugby, but have been wasteful with possession

For the long-suffering Ellis Park faithful, the question remains the same throughout: When is the turnaround truly coming? 

It's a line that was bandied about again by Lions assistant coach Ricardo Loubscher earlier this week in light of another difficult start to a URC campaign.

One win from five starts is not a return to write home about - and Loubscher hardly tries to plaster over that fact - but the former Springbok fullback believes that record still represents a decent platform for his charges to kick-start their campaign.

Part of that sentiment is rooted in a collection of four bonus points for losing within seven points or less, as well as a challenging four-week overseas leg being a thing of the past now.

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The Lions can now look forward to a run of outings on home soil that, in theory, really should translate into positive, tangible results, starting with Saturday's meeting with Zebre in Doornfontein.

To argue that a decent platform has been laid isn't a fanciful notion because there were genuinely some encouraging scorelines.

The Lions came within one point of toppling Edinburgh, who a few weeks later would topple the high-flying Bulls, beat Scarlets in Llanelli, and gave the accomplished Ulster various frights before the error rate in the second half caught up with them.

Ironically, those performances highlighted the fundamental problem that continues to blight their true progress: oodles of guts and determination in the absence of consistent tactical and technical execution.

Now, back at home where they tend to have more conviction when it comes to living out their more expansive blueprint, they need to