The Lions’ impressive rise in the United Rugby Championship, currently holding third place, is attributed to flyhalf Chris Smith’s leadership, a balanced game model, and a strengthened defence. Picture: Backpagepix
Image: Photo: Backpagepix
As one of the surprise packages of this season’s United Rugby Championship (URC), the rise of the Lions has been notable, as they currently hold third spot on the table.
After 16 matches, the Lions have 53 points— two behind Glasgow Warriors and three behind the table-topping Stormers.
In fact, the Lions are even four spots above their much-fancied rivals across the Jukskei, the Bulls, who are down in seventh.
Key to their improved results ha s been the performance of flyhalf Chris Smith.
With 145 points, Smith is 19 points ahead of Springboks and Stormers number 10, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.
“It honestly has been a weird season,” Smith told SportsBoom.co.za.
“We started 0/3 on tour, but Ellis Park has been good to us. We slipped up against the Bulls at home, but this is probably our longest winning streak in the URC with five games.”
He credits the team’s turnaround to clarity in identity and execution.
“We’ve found a game model that suits Lions Rugby and how we want to play. We’ve been able to execute that on weekends and get good results.”
The Lions have always been known for their attacking, running rugby, but this season it seems they have shored up their defence to complement their natural style.
This was demonstrated in their 33-21 win against Connacht at Ellis Park over the weekend.
The Lions made almost 200 tackles with a 91% success rate.
“Lions rugby has always been exciting, but now we’ve added structure and a strong pressure game. That balance has really worked in our favour.”