Lions aim to spoil unbeaten Stormers’ URC homecoming at DHL Stadium

When a team like the Stormers are on a roll and winning, they can be there for the taking.

With that mindset, the Lions will approach their United Rugby Championship derby with the Cape side on Saturday afternoon (3.30pm kick-off) at the DHL Stadium.

Their hosts are unbeaten in eight matches in all competitions this season, and the Johannesburg side will look to spoil their first home game in over two months. While the Lions come off back-to-back losses in the European Challenge Cup, their last match in the URC was an away win against the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld.

They believe what they achieved away from home against the Bulls can be repeated and it is one of the main reasons why they will pitch up in the Mother City with plenty of confidence.

Jaque Fourie, defence coach of the Lions, acknowledged that their opponents are playing good rugby at the moment and it will take a big effort from them this weekend to get the victory.

“We have nothing to lose, and we want to run the ball,” Fourie proclaimed.

“We want to play Lions rugby; however, we must follow our processes. There won’t be a focus on any specific player in their team. As an outfit, from the front to the back, they have good players. This will be a good challenge for us.

“If a team is flying this high, they are ripe for the picking.”

The Lions rested a handful of their starters for this clash, opting not to send them to England last week to face Newcastle Red Bulls in the Challenge. They instead had an extensive prep for what awaits on Saturday. This is a strategy that the South African franchises have used with mixed success.

The extra week at home would’ve been valuable time preparing for the Stormers; however, the players could potentially not be battle-ready for the Cape side.

According to Fourie, they are not too concerned about that because they know planning carefully between the two competitions is very important.

So, resting them could either be a masterstroke or bomb spectacularly come Saturday.

“The URC is our big competition in which we want to perform well,” Fourie said.

“I think we must get our players fresh to play in this competition. Last week, we took young guys to Newcastle and saw how well they performed to almost win; that is what you want to see. It was difficult conditions in England.

“Leaving some of the guys at home, taking the conditions into consideration, to have them fresh for this weekend, was crucial.”

Fourie emphasised the importance of hanging onto their possession and preventing the Stormers from creating chaos through unstructured play. He stressed that they must build an innings first, which should then enable them to play their brand of rugby. The Lions will also take courage from that performance at Loftus a couple of weeks ago when they pitch up in Cape Town for their second away local derby of the tournament.

“You don’t want to start too loose against the Stormers. That is what they want, and you will play into their hands. We want to take the ball through phases to put them under pressure. And then, if all goes well, we can open the game up.

“We are looking for consistency on a weekly basis; if we do that, the result will take care of itself. Hopefully, this weekend we can pick up where we left off after the Bulls game.”