Lions look to breakdown battle to get better of Glasgow in big URC clash

The Lions are preparing for a wounded and hurting Glasgow Warriors when the teams meet in a United Rugby Championship match at Ellis Park on Saturday (4pm).

Though the Warriors are top of the points table in the URC (55 from 11 wins in 14 games) they came unstuck in the Champions Cup quarter-finals against Toulon last weekend and will be going all out to make a statement against the Lions.

The last time the Franco Smith coached side played against Ivan van Rooyen’s Lions they won 42-0.

It’s a big game for both teams. With just four round robin games to play for all the teams before the knockout stages, the Warriors will want to cement their place at the top of the log, while the Lions, who’re fifth (43 points) and eager to get into the top four, are being chased by four teams who’re within four points of them.

Assistant Lions coach Ricardo Loubscher admitted this weekend’s game is a big one.

“They’re a well-coached team, with few weaknesses. They will be disappointed to have lost last week. They’ve got quality players, but we just have to make sure we do things right from our side.

“We need to win, but to get there we need to first focus on our processes.”

Breakdown battle

Loubscher added the breakdown would be a key area of the match.

“When we lost 42-0 they played us off our feet. That’s part of their DNA … they play at a high tempo, and they like to speed up the game. Quick rucks is their thing, so the breakdowns will thus be a big focus area this weekend.

“We’re going to have to stop their momentum and take their strengths away and force our game on them.”

The Lions have four big round robin games remaining – against Glasgow and Connacht at home and Leinster and Munster away.

“There will be some nerves, these are big teams we’re going to be playing against,” said Loubscher. “But we prefer to think of these games as exciting challenges and look forward to taking them on.”

The Lions welcome back to action this week Morne van den Berg and JC Pretorius, who were both previously injured, while Asenathi Ntlabakanye remains pickable despite a doping ruling coming out soon.