The Lions’ defence and discipline will be firmly in the spotlight when they take on the Blues at Ellis Park in Johannesburg on Saturday March 15.
The kick-off is at 15:00.
The Lions will try to use their home ground advantage to the fullest in order to record the three points on the log.
“The Blues are a difficult team to play, if you don’t protect the ball then you are in trouble,” said Head coach Johan Ackerman, “All we must do is to play smart and use our opportunities.”
The Blues have made the most clean line-breaks thus far this season, with 22, but last weekend the Vodacom Bulls showed how great “in your face” defence could derail the Aucklanders’ attacking prowess.
And looking back at the results between these two teams, the Blues have always scored a lot of points against the Lions – on average 37 per match, which is the most points they score against any other team in Vodacom Super Rugby.
With a tackle success rate of 88 per cent, the Lions’ defence is pretty solid, but they will have to improve their discipline, otherwise they could find themselves on the back foot for most of the time. No team has conceded more than the Lions’ 41 penalties this season, and they also lead the stakes in terms of yellow cards, with three.
Interestingly, two survivors from 2006, when the Lions recorded their first and only victory over the Blues, will be in action this weekend – they are Willie Wepener and Tony Woodcock. Was it not for injury, the Aucklanders could’ve had three, with Jerome Kaino and Keven Mealamu also still in action.
Ackermann has made several changes after the Lions went down to The Sharks in Durban last weekend.
In the forwards, Robbie Coetzee returns to the starting line-up and Willie Britz will start at flank. As a result, both Willie Wepener and Warwick Tecklenburg will provide cover off the wood.
Meanwhile, in the backline, Marnitz Boshoff shifts back to flyhalf. Courtnall Skosan, JW Jonker and Coenie van Wyk all earn spaces in the starting XV as Elton Jantjies and Ruan Combrinck are moved to the bench to provide backline cover.
The match will kick off at 15h00 and will be preceded by a Vodacom Cup clash between the Golden Lions and Valke.
The team is:
15. Coenie van Wyk
14. JW Jonker
13. Deon van Rensburg
12. Stefan Watermeyer
11. Courtnall Skosan
10. Marnitz Boshoff
9. Faf de Klerk
8. Warren Whiteley (c)
7. Willie Britz
6. Jaco Kriel
5. Franco van der Merwe
4. Franco Mostert
3. Julian Redelinghuys
2. Robbie Coetzee
1. Schalk van der Merwe
16. Willie Wepener
17. Corne Fourie
18. Ruan Dreyer
19. MB Lusaseni
20. Warwick Tecklenburg
21. Ross Cronje
22. Elton Jantjies
23. Ruan Combrinck
