Emirates Lions forwards coach, Albert van den Berg believes studying opposition tactics remain a crucial aspect of team preparation. The former Bok lock will be at the helm of his team’s forward and line-out play ahead of their first home fixture against Cardiff Rugby in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship (VURC) at Emirates Airline Park on Sunday, 28 November.

“You’ll find that when preparing for a game, teams don’t really change much from previous weeks,” says Van den Berg.

“In saying that, you want to work hard at getting to know your opposing team and planning for surprises they may bring by running through various scenarios during sessions,” he explains.

Van den Berg, who joined the Lions coaching setup just before the start of the Vodacom URC, believes players play a key role in contributing towards opposition analysis.

“As much as the players put in the hard work on the field, it’s important for them to dedicate their preparation towards analysing the opposition especially the guy they’ll be tussling with come match day. It’s additional homework the guys need to put in to gain that extra advantage,” he adds.

As the specialist in the forwards and line-outs department, Van den Berg believes it’s only a matter of time before the results come.

“We’re getting there. The guys are really buying into our system on and off the field in terms of what we want to achieve more so in the forwards department. It’s only a matter of time,” an enthusiastic Van den Berg exclaims.

1️⃣0️⃣ days until @Vodacom #URC arrives in Joburg!

2020 Lions Members, join us when we welcome @Cardiff_Rugby to Emirates Airline Park for the first time! ????

Read more here: https://t.co/1mFQZ7HWaS#LionsPride #LIOvCDF pic.twitter.com/umJCdOXNzB

— Emirates Lions (@LionsRugbyCo) November 18, 2021

With the looming clash against Cardiff in just over a week, the former line-out jumper believes the Welsh outfit will be heading to South Africa for a positive result in Lions’ territory.

“It’s a short tour for them so they would have analysed our past performances in the competition relating to certain aspects of our play to work out where they can capitilise,” says Van den Berg.

“Likewise, both the coaches and players in our camp will scrutinize and plan accordingly for an adamant Cardiff side, for us to be successful on the day,” he concludes.