The Lions are ready to take on the Bulls in much better weather conditions, after a difficult two-week tour to France and Wales.
The Lions are happy to be back in South Africa after a tough two-week overseas tour, and are looking forward to a massive cross-Jukskei United Rugby Championship (URC) derby against fierce rivals, the Bulls, at Ellis Park on Saturday.
The Highveld side returned to a warm Johannesburg early on Sunday morning having endured over two weeks of freezing weather in France and Wales, where they picked up two draws in the Challenge Cup and URC respectively.
Over the past weekend they fought hard but couldn’t be separated from home team Ospreys, with a 24-all result in Bridgend on Friday night, while a week earlier they fell out of the Challenge Cup after a 20-all draw with Perpignan.
Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen said that the players would now be working on refreshing themselves over the coming days, before preparing for their big encounter with the Bulls, who have won their last two matches after being on a seven game losing streak.
“It’s been a tough 24-hour trip back. We arrived at 1am [Sunday]. There is a mental freshness and physical freshness that we want to drive Monday, Tuesday and then get up for a really tough game against the Bulls this weekend,” said Van Rooyen.
“It’s obviously been a tough two weeks in terms of travel and weather but as a squad we want to embrace the tough times. In circumstances like that, you can actually reveal who you are and what you are. So (I am) really proud of the effort, and proud of the toughness.”
Up for Ospreys
It was obviously disappointing for the Lions to drop out of the Challenge Cup in the pool stage, and then had to get themselves up for a tricky URC clash against Ospreys in Wales, and although they fought well, they will feel like it was a missed opportunity not getting the win.
“We’ll take the three points. We wanted four and we scored four tries so it could have been five, so we are disappointed in that sense,” admitted Van Rooyen.
“I think that the difference between three points and five points was the discipline in the second half. We gave away too many penalties, and the Ospreys strength is to trap you and to catch you off guard.”
The Lions now have a bit of an anxious wait to see if a few players will be fit for the Bulls match, including captain Francke Horn who went off during the second half against Ospreys.
“In terms of injuries, there are quite a few niggles. Hopefully it’s not too serious. We will know more about Francke later,” said Van Rooyen.
“It’s bumps and bruises, and obviously, the travel doesn’t help with that, but we are not foreseeing anything too hectic at this stage.”
