Lions' visit to struggling Newcastle is must-win Challenge Cup encounter

The Lions travel to the north of England on Saturday to take on the Newcastle Red Bulls, the team that has been bottom of the English Premiership for the last three years despite being given wings by their energy drink sponsors.

In August of this year, Red Bull took on the previously known Newcastle Falcons as something of a pet project, but the team remains rooted to the bottom of the table, having lost all six of their games.

But last week, there was hope for the perennial wooden-spoonists when they beat Lyon in a Challenge Cup fixture in France, although their fans won’t be getting overly excited because Lyon are near the bottom of the French Top 14.

Still, a win is a win, and Newcastle will view the Lions as a winnable fixture in Pool 2 of the Challenge Cup. The other teams in that pool are Perpignan, Benetton, and the Dragons.

By the same token, the Lions should be looking at this fixture as a must-win, especially after dropping a home game last week to the Italians.

A look at the Newcastle squad gives an indication of why they are the poor relations of English rugby. Household names are conspicuously absent, and with respect, the calibre of their South African signings is not overly impressive.

The Red Bulls are home to former Sharks and Bulls flyhalf/fullback Boeta Chamberlain and former Cheetahs prop Luan de Bruin, while a signing they hyped up a month back was that of former Pumas fullback Stefan Coetzee.

He is a player the Lions will know well from the Currie Cup.

Coetzee was the 13th player signed by Newcastle since Red Bull became involved with the club, but the new squad is still to find cohesion, given their results.

Saturday night’s match in Newcastle kicks off at 7.30pm. A comfort of sorts for the visitors is that they are well acquainted with the referee, Morne Ferreira (South Africa).