Lions coaches admit the rugby public are not giving them a chance against Leinster, who should field a quality team full of Irish internationals.
The Lions take on Leinster after the defending URC champions were beaten comprehensively in the Champions Cup final. Picture: Sam Barnes/Sportsfile via Getty Images
The Lions believe Leinster will go all out against them in their URC quarter-final in Dublin on Saturday, following the Irish side’s Champions Cup final defeat at the weekend.
Leinster were thumped 41-19 by Bordeaux-Begles at the neutral San Mames Stadium in Bilbao after Bordeaux scored five first-half tries in what had been expected to be a very close match between last year’s winners and Leinster, who have reached four finals in the last five years.
It sets up an interesting first-ever United Rugby Championship quarter-final for the Lions, where the Joburg side may see an opportunity to capitalise on a wounded Leinster.
The proud Irish side, however, will want to bounce back and defend their URC title from last year.
‘Basically playing against Ireland’
Lions coaches said on the eve of the Champions Cup final that they would not dwell on notions Leinster may want to rest players afterwards, and so field a B-team for their first URC play-off, nor that they would be any less eager to win.
“Any side Leinster put out for a quarter-final will be a good side,” said Lions defence coach Jacques Fourie.
“We need to be at our best. If they lose the [Champions Cup] they will go flat out for the URC, and if they win it, they will go flat out for the double.
“I don’t think they will leave anything to chance. Whatever team they field against us will be a proper side with a lot of Test match experience.”
Head coach Ivan van Rooyen said they were under par in areas during their 31-7 thrashing by Leinster and 24-17 defeat by Munster in the final run-in. However, the Lions had worked on these areas, taking confidence from their strengths.
He added that hostile crowds, though not overstepping boundaries of sportsmanship, impacted a few 50/50 decisions in Ireland. Still, the Lions would focus on what they could control.
“We are excited about the challenge we are in with [Morné van den Berg, Asenathi Ntlabakanye, Ruan Venter, Bronson Mills] and them not here.
“We are excited about this opportunity, where this group can go and how we can adapt and learn for a massive quarter-final against Leinster, which they will probably pick their A-team, so we will basically be playing against Ireland.”
‘No one gives us a chance’
Fourie added that this would not daunt their young group.
“If you think about Siba Mahashe or Batho Hlekani, they are so young that they sometimes don’t care about the opponents they are playing against. They just want to play rugby. Sometimes that is nice because they don’t overthink it.”
Kicking consultant Morné Steyn said “no one gives us a chance”, which was good for the Lions.
“We will maybe get three or four chances and we must finish that,” Steyn said.
“We’ve played a lot of finals where the ball didn’t go your way. We must just take it as another game. We must not make the occasion bigger than it is, and just go out and have fun.”
