Lions loose forward Tshituka says they are gunning for solid URC start against Stormers

The Lions must stick to their processes if they want to topple the Stormers in a contest that has all the ingredients needed to produce a thriller at Ellis Park on Saturday, says loose forward Emmanuel Tshituka. 

He said the Lions are expecting a tough opening United Rugby Championship (URC) duel against a formidable Stormers line-up primed for battle at 4.05pm. 

“What the Stormers did last season speaks for itself. Going to two finals back-to-back is quite impressive,” Tshituka said. 

“The past two seasons they have managed to dominate South African rugby. It’s a challenge all the South African teams, not just us, have to take on. I look forward to playing against them.  

“When we play them, it is always an attractive brand of rugby. As players we have to stick to our processes and stick to what we have been training throughout this week.”  

Tshituka said they are looking for consistency as they struggled when last season gained momentum. 

“There is no doubt in my mind what we have planned for them. We will come out successful. Last season we had a good start. Where we fell short in the middle of the season, we were struggling to keep the consistency. 

“This season a good start is always what we want, get out of the blocks running and get as many points as we can. The middle of the season last time wasn’t good enough. If we can polish up on that we will be in for a good season. 

“It’s been a long off-season with no rugby, about 12 weeks without playing any rugby. It’s exciting to get the season going and play against last year’s finalists. 

“We take a lot of confidence going into this season. We had a really good preseason as a group and, more importantly, we managed to keep most of our core group. 

“In the previous season, we did struggle with some of our starting players leaving. I think this is the first season in a while that we get to continue with our core players. 

“We can take a lot of confidence from that. The preseason we had, we as players feel we can take a lot of confidence.” 

New Lions forwards coach Barend Pieterse said his team will be well prepared for Saturday.  

“Speaking to the players and other coaches, they all agree it has been one of the toughest preseasons they’ve had in quite a while, so I think everyone is excited to get the games started again,” said Pieterse. 

“In every team set-up there are certain strengths from a team. The Lions had a strength last season which the Griquas maybe didn’t have, so obviously I will try to bring my own little flavour to the Lions. 

“And hopefully, whatever we want to improve on from last season, that is all we can hope for. 

“I won’t say it is a combination of the two. I think you have to work towards the strengths of the players you have at the moment, and I think there are a lot of strengths here,” the coach said. 

“Building consistency is going to be vital for us. The thing that has impressed me is the work rate of the guys. When I was an outsider looking in, you sort of had this mindset about the Lions and where they are now, but the way the guys train, the work they do off-field before training. They are in here early, they prehab, they rehab. 

“You can’t fault their effort in all the training I have seen. That has impressed me the most.”