Lions number 8, Jamie Heaslip, talks about the start being key for second test in Pretoria.
On the mood in the camp this week
There is a lot of faith in the players around us and I think we can do a good job. Everyone was back in training on Monday and bouncing around, raring to go. We had two very good training sessions yesterday and today and I’m really looking forward to the game on Saturday.
On what will be key in the Lions performance on Saturday
We need to start the way we ended the last Test. I think we ended the game stronger than they did and we just didn’t help ourselves in the first 40-50 minutes. We need to cut out the mistakes and get the ball in play because it was out of play a lot which made it very hard to get into the game. When we did get into the game though, I think everyone saw that we can score tries and put them under pressure. If we can establish a bit of dominance and we get that go forward and vital quick ball then we can cause the Springboks a lot of hassle.
On difficulty in the maul area
It’s probably guys from different teams doing different things – just in the little things of the game that you might sometimes take for granted, but that’s all sorted and we are definitely going to attack them in that part of the game. We’ve got to stop them at every little confrontation be it mauls, scrums, rucks – or if it’s the basic tackle – we have to attack everything really.
On playing at Loftus
I know as a Leinster player about going into hostile grounds where you’re not welcome and that stuff doesn’t really bother me. If anything I think it’s just going to add to the entire atmosphere and that will add to getting us more focused on the job. Last week I thought we had more fans at the ground than they did and it was unbelievable. Hopefully the crowd is going to get bigger for us and the support base will just get louder and louder and come out and show their true colours on Saturday. Keeping the noise going and seeing that support is a massive thing come 60, 70, 80 minutes when you’re pushing hard and sucking in those big breathes – it does give you that pick up.
