The Lions are aiming to start their new URC campaign on a high by beating the defending champions Leinster.
Lions coach Ivan Van Rooyen says his team have learned a lot from a breakout campaign last season and are ready to start their new URC campaign with a bang on Saturday. Picture: Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images
The Lions are eager to banish their struggles from the end of the last United Rugby Championship (URC) campaign and start the new one on a high note when they take on defending champions, Leinster, in their opening match of the season at Ellis Park on Saturday afternoon (kick-off 1:30pm).
It was a breakout campaign for the Lions last season, with them reaching the URC playoffs and qualifying for the Champions Cup for the first time, but they ended off on a three-match losing run.
They concluded their campaign in Ireland, where they went down to Leinster 31-7 and Munster 24-17 in their final two pool matches, before returning to Dublin to face the defending champs in the quarterfinals and were hammered 59-10 to end a very good season on a low note.
Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen said that the team had grown massively over the past year but also admitted that they had learnt plenty from those losses, and said the team was happy they had the chance to try fix things at the start of the new season.
“I think system-wise, (we have) definitely (grown). Until you experience and feel the pressure (of a quarterfinal), it’s difficult to prep against. It was a good experience for the players that played, and some great learnings because we took a hiding. So some good learnings there,” said Van Rooyen.
“It’s nice that we play them first up, to see if we can rectify that. So I’m not quite sure what kind of team they’ll pick, but we know their system is absolutely world class, their squad is world class. So we’re expecting an unbelievable performance from them.”
Golden opportunity
Leinster, as they often do when they tour to South Africa, have sent a weakened squad again, so it is a golden opportunity for the Lions to get the new season off to the perfect start, with them playing at home and welcoming Ospreys in round two.
Even a depleted Leinster are a tough team when they’re at their best, and have named six Irish internationals in their match 23, among a slew of young up and coming talent, but the Lions will be very confident at home on the highveld, while Ospreys are a side they usually battle with for a top eight spot, so a win over them would be great.
“It is really nice (starting at home). We’ve got Leinster and Ospreys and for us it’s two tough fixtures. One is highly skilled technical and fit, and the other one is just extremely tough; they want to play a suffocating game, tough at every breakdown,” explained Van Rooyen.
“So it is a good start for us in terms of that because we can’t be half ready for those two games. Then we’ve got the Bulls away and Champions Cup, Glasgow away, Edinburgh away. So it’s a really tough start. The difference from last year and this season is two at home, and we’ve got to get sprinting early.”
