Lions ready to atone

Despite set-piece superiority the Lions fell short in their quest to down the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld three weeks ago. On Saturday they have another opportunity to come to grips with their neighbours but this time at Ellis Park in the United Rugby Championship.

They did not maximise the advantage they derived from the scrum in their URC clash on that occasion but scrum coach Julian Redelinghuys believes they now have an opportunity to atone.

“There were lots of learnings from the last time we played them at Loftus,” said the former Springbok prop about the 30-28 defeat.

“We were obviously disappointed coming out of that game but the great thing since then is that we have had three weeks to prepare which gave us to time to fix a few things.

“Hopefully we’ll see the results of those fixes come Saturday.”

Squandered advantage

Though they played well in patches it was not a job well done. They allowed the Bulls back into the contest before squandering the opportunity to win the game off the kicking tee.

Redelinghuys reminded the need to improve is keenly felt in the Lions' group. “The players themselves drive really high standards and the best thing from a coaching perspective is that it all comes from them. So even though we’ve had good performances, they still know that there are areas where they can improve and that’s what they keep chasing.”

The Lions have also sought improvement in selection. Journeyman lock Etienne Oosthuizen is set for a URC debut after some impressive performances in the Challenge Cup.

“I’m very excited for the opportunity,” said Oosthuizen who this season returned to the Lions after stints with the Brumbies, the Sharks and Lyon. “Being out of rugby for so long and working hard towards this opportunity to finally play a URC game and prove exactly why am I here and what I can bring to the team was always a personal goal. The approach for me is focus on the basics and the rest will take of itself.”

The second rower who was forced into a hiatus for two and a half years due to medical reasons, says having the confidence of his teammates makes it easier as he prepares to take on the Bulls.

“I must say that my previous games in the EPCR Challenge Cup competition were very nervy as I didn’t really know how the body would react. I gained confidence out of that experience however and it just makes this first URC game for me a lot easier. I also have a good grouping of guys around that can help me in the game so I’m very confident,” he said.

Lions team to play the Bulls

Quan Horn; Richard Kriel, Henco van Wyk, Marius Louw (captain), Edwill van der Merwe; Sanele Nohamba, Morne van den Berg; Francke Horn, Ruan Venter, Hanru Sirgel; Reinhard Nothnagel, Etienne Oosthuizen; Asenathi Ntlabakanye, Jaco Visagie, JP Smith. Substitutes: PJ Botha, Morgan Naude, Conraad van Vuuren, Darrien Landsberg, Izan Esterhuizen, JC Pretorius; Jordan Hendrikse, Erich Cronje.