Lions hungry to make a statement at Loftus

All roads lead to Loftus Versfeld this Saturday as the Lions make the journey to the country’s capital for Round 6 of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship to take on the Vodacom Bulls.

The side from Jozi will take confidence going into this historic clash after successive victories in their last two appearances at Ellis Park, notably the toppling of Irish giants Ulster, who were unbeaten in the competition until that point.

Ivan van Rooyen’s men return refreshed and hungry after a four-week international break but the Lions mentor is upbeat about his side’s preparation during the interval where hard work has been happening behind the scenes.

“We had a week off and then three weeks of hard work,” he said. “Some good work, some hard work. Physical work, Lions identity work. We feel we really had an exceptional three weeks.”

Reflecting on previous seasons, ‘Cash’ believes the team is better prepared going into the second block of the tournament, and there’s no greater test than against the Bulls at Loftus to kick-off the stanza.

“Last year, a large part of the group didn’t get a rest. This time, we feel a lot better prepared for the second block, which traditionally we haven’t been that strong in.

“We spoke about it quite a bit. We need to be a lot more consistent in the second block. There’s travel, rotation, all the local derbies – we were open and honest about it, and we need to be better.”

Lions captain Francke Horn earlier this week spoke about the physical battle his men are expecting on Saturday, an aspect of the game which comes standard when these two giants clash. Furthermore, one can’t overlook the bragging rights for the title of Gauteng’s finest rugby outfit.

“I know both teams are hungry for the victory,” he said. “I don’t expect anything less than a big, physical set-piece battle.”

“We’ve come very close a few times at Loftus,” Horn said. “It’s bragging rights in terms of Gauteng. You get two chances and you want to take them with both hands.”

In team news, Eduan Keyter and Kelly Mpeku occupy the left and right wings, respectively. Loosehead prop Edward Davids is in line to make his international club debut for the Lions since arriving as a loan player from the Suzuki Griquas.

Vodacom Bulls starting XV: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Sebastian de Klerk, 13 David Kriel, 12 Jan Serfontein, 11 Stravino Jacobs; 10 Keagan Johannes, 9 Embrose Papier; 8 JJ Theron, 7 Reinhardt Ludwig (capt), 6 Jeandre Rudolph; 5 JF van Heerden, 4 Cobus Wiese; 3 Francois Klopper, 2 Akker van der Merwe, 1 Alu Tshakweni. Replacements: 16 Jean Else, 17 Sti Sithole, 18 Mornay Smith, 19 Jaco Grobbelaar, 20 Elrigh Louw, 21 Paul de Wet, 22 Stedman Gans, 23 Cheswill Jooste.

Lions starting XV: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Kelly Mpeku, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Bronson Mills, 11 Eduan Keyter; 10 Chris Smith, 9 Nico Steyn; 8 Francke Horn (capt), 7 Ruan Venter, 6 Jarod Cairns; 5 Reinhard Nothnagel, 4 Etienne Oosthuizen; 3 RF Schoeman, 2 Franco Marais, 1 SJ Kotze. Replacements: 16 Morne Brandon, 17 Edward Davids, 18 Conrad van Vuuren, 19 Darrien Landsberg, 20 Renzo du Plessis, 21 Sibabalo Qoma, 22 Haashim Pead, 23 Gianni Lombard.

SATURDAY

Vodacom Bulls v Lions

Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria – KO 12pm IRE & UK/1pm ITA/2pm SA

Referee: Aimee Barrett-Theron (SARU, 12th league game)

AR 1: Griffin Colby (SARU) AR 2: Sean Muller (SARU)

TMO: Quinton Immelman (SARU)

Live on: SuperSport, Premier Sports, TG4, Flo Rugby & URC.tv