The Lions are gunning for their first ever URC double over the Bulls when they meet at Ellis Park this weekend.
Lions flyhalf Chris Smith is fired up for his potential battle with Bulls and Springbok flyhalf Handré Pollard when the teams collide in a cross-Jukskei United Rugby Championship (URC) derby at Ellis Park on Saturday afternoon.
The Johannesburg team will be chasing a first ever URC double over their Highveld rivals, after they stunned the Bulls at Loftus 43-33 in their first encounter of the season late last year.
Overall the Bulls have dominated the Lions in the URC, winning seven encounters while losing just twice, but they will be very wary of their neighbours, who have shown this season that when they hit their straps they are hard to stop.
Major part
In the first encounter in November last year, Smith played a major part in the Lions win, running the show as the flyhalf general, while he slotted five conversions of their six tries and kicked a penalty for a 13-point haul in the match.
But he came up against stand-in No 10 Keagan Johannes on that occasion, who is a solid player, but does not have the same pedigree as double World Cup winning Pollard, who Smith is expected to face this weekend.
“It is awesome to go against Polly. He is one of the world’s best and he has been for a long time. It is an awesome challenge to look forward to,” admitted Smith about the prospect of coming up against the Springbok star.
“Their backline is filled with stars and guys that can ignite something from anywhere and anytime, so we are going to have to be at our best at all times if we want to match them. As a back’s unit, all of us are looking for the opportunity to go up against them.
“We moved the ball around quite nicely (in the last game) and our forwards were nice and dynamic. We really connected. On turnover ball, we capitalised and we were clinical at times.”
Set piece battle
In that match the Lions forward pack was also firing on all cylinders, and a big performance at the set piece will again be vitally important for them if they are to overcome the Bulls a second straight time.
Bok prop Asenathi Ntlabakanye is relishing that prospect and is looking forward to coming up against players he knows very well.
“It’s going to be an exciting one (the forward battle). There are guys that I have played with and been teammates with as well. They are good friends of mine,” said Ntlabakanye.
“In these derbies, it is an arm-wrestle. The Bulls are a Springbok pack, in a way, if you look at their front-row and their back-row, so it is good to challenge yourself and to really see where you are as a rugby player.”
