On a five-game winning streak and fresh off a 54-12 demolition of Glasgow, the Lions return to Ellis Park this weekend to face a dangerous Connacht side. Photo: Backpagepix
Image: Backpagepix
An in-form Connacht travel to Johannesburg later this week, desperately looking to keep their Top 8 hopes alive in the United Rugby Championship (URC).
For the Lions, the objective will be to ensure the Irish franchise do not spoil their play-off ambitions ahead of a final stretch of matches that also includes Leinster and Munster. After soundly beating the table-topping Glasgow Warriors 54-12 this past weekend, head coach Ivan van Rooyen intimated that the men in green were the team to beat.
“We are playing two former champions and Connacht, who are probably the in-form team in the competition at the moment,” Van Rooyen said.
“They have won six or seven in a row now after beating the Stormers. It is really a tough block of fixtures. Connacht are physically a good team, they play with tempo.”
Van Rooyen’s assessment is not wrong. Since losing to Leinster 34-23, Connacht have only lost one of their last eight games — to Montpellier 45-22 in the EPCR Challenge Cup. Their shock 33-24 victory over the Stormers is part of a run of form that includes triumphs over Zebre (31-15), Glasgow (15-10), Scarlets (31-14), Ulster (26-19), the Ospreys (21-14), and the Sharks (29-12).
Van Rooyen is arguably being pragmatic in his belief, because truth be told, the Lions can also claim to be the form team in the tournament at the moment. On a run of five consecutive wins, the Doornfontein-based side have put their opponents to the sword since losing to the Bulls at Ellis Park in a shock 52-17 loss.
They, too, have beaten the Sharks and Stormers since (34-22 and 24-10 respectively), adding Edinburgh (54-17), the Dragons (42-26), and most recently the Warriors to their run of success. In those five matches, they have scored 29 tries, racking up a whopping 208 points while conceding only 87.
It has lifted the Lions to fourth in the standings after 15 rounds with 48 points. They are three points behind defending champions Leinster and former champions the Stormers. They also closed the gap on the Warriors, who are now seven points ahead in first place and must face the Stormers on Saturday.
Nonetheless, the Lions can ill-afford to allow the visitors this weekend to repeat their heroics from the past weekend, at Ellis Park. Either Ulster or Munster can leapfrog the Lions this weekend, as can Cardiff and the Bulls. Add to that the pressure of an away tour to Ireland for their final two matches of the regular season, and the importance of beating Connacht becomes even more significant.
Connacht have beaten the Lions once at Ellis Park in their previous four meetings, back in the 2021/22 season when they won 33-30. That defeat all but ended the Lions' push for a Top 8 finish as they instead found themselves rooted at the lower end of the standings, finishing the season in 12th.
There is a healthy rivalry developing between the two teams, with each having won two games apiece. The Lions have won the last two encounters. Last season they ran out 26-7 victors at home, while the campaign before they won 38-14 in Galway.
Over the four matches, the Lions have scored 108 points to the 97 conceded. That suggests a close-run affair on Saturday (kick-off 4pm) — the average score between them is 27-24 to the Lions — but the recent form of the hosts suggests that they have the ability to run in stacks of tries.
The Lions will also have consistency in selection, adding to their advantages. As captain Francke Horn said: “We know where we want to be and we can't look too far ahead ...
"This week everything will go towards Connacht. That is how we are going to approach every single week. We must make sure we know what they bring and try to put structure on them.”