HAVING had a week to lick their wounds after a last-gasp defeat by the Sharks XV in the Currie Cup final, the Lions are ready to dust themselves off and carry the positive momentum through to the United Rugby Championship (URC) this weekend.
The Joburgers may have lost the final 16-14 to the Durban side at Ellis Park, but they will surely take many positives from their run in the pool stage with eight wins, a draw and a loss, which also came against the Sharks in July.
And so, the Lions are allowed to talk big about getting off to a winning start in the URC when they welcome Ulster to Ellis Park on Saturday (12.55pm kick-off).
“Everybody is just excited to get the campaign up and running, and especially (to try) to build on the momentum that the Currie Cup side has brought for us... A lot of those guys are in the (URC) squad,” star No 8 Francke Horn said yesterday.
“We are really looking forward to taking the next step forward and performing to the best of our abilities.
“We obviously want to start on a positive note, playing in front of our home fans. Just like last week, there were a lot of fans, so we hope there’ll (again) be a lot of fans this Saturday, just to see them coming to see us play attractive rugby.”
P R I D E 🦁#LionsPride🦁 pic.twitter.com/H44mBJTdQ4
Horn may be talking tough, just like his game, but assistant and lineouts coach Barend Pieterse admitted that last Saturday’s loss did leave them with a mental block of some sort.
“It’s obviously always going to be a tough little mental block, especially for the guys (players) after that game (losing a final). But now it’s finished,” said Pieterse.
“We haven’t been in a situation where you play a Currie Cup final on the weekend, and then you have to prepare for the first week of the URC. The guys, though, are coming alright – there haven’t been any bad vibes, to be honest.”
With all that dealt with, all that’s left for Pieterse and the rest of the coaching staff is to look ahead to the touring Ulster side from Belfast in Northern Ireland on their opening URC weekend.
“They’ll always be a difficult team. I know that we are playing at 1pm and they are travelling, but they still have dangerous players and some guys have come in. That gives them a more attacking threat,” said Pieterse.
“From the set-piece point of view as well, they’ll be strong, even though they have struggled with the scrums. But we believe they will sort that out.
“They are very good with lineouts, in terms of mauling, so, even though they are travelling, they have a good system. They’ll have a go at it, they are not going to come here to roll over. It is going to be a tough game.”
We’re kicking off the season in full force at Emirates Airline Park this Saturday! 🦁🔥 Join us as we take on Ulster in our season opener.
🆚 @UlsterRugby
🗓: Sat, 28 Sept
⏰: 12H55
🎟: https://t.co/QpxzaiqFWU
🏟 : Emirates Airline Park
🏆: @URCOfficial_RSA@vodacom #URC |… pic.twitter.com/DKvPV3QRnq
The Lions might still have it easier, though – there has been a hint that Ulster might not be bringing their best team to South Africa because of the demands of internationals like the November Tests and the Six Nations later in the season.
“I understand the use of the word weakened (team), but in that group (of Ulster), there’ll always be good players,” said Pieterse.
“It doesn’t matter which players you bring, but the system will always be there. It doesn’t matter which players they bring here, but if we are not going to start well or if we let them score easy tries, we’ll be in for a long day.”