Improving Lions can consolidate their Challenge Cup and URC positions on overseas tour

The Lions are on a two-fold mission to Europe — to sneak into the Challenge Cup playoffs and to consolidate their position in the top eight of the United Rugby Championship (URC).

After a dreadful start to the season, the Lions have been on an upward trajectory for some time, barring the odd lapse.

They are alive in both competitions, and coach Ivan van Rooyen says there is excitement ahead of their Challenge Cup match against Perpignan on Saturday and next week’s URC match against the Ospreys.

The Lions are coming off a convincing 42-33 win against Lyon in a Challenge Cup match at Ellis Park.

“There is a nice flavour to the tour — one week in the Challenge Cup, and one week in the URC — and we can make good ground in both competitions,” Van Rooyen said.

“It is not going to be easy. It is very cold in Europe. At least this week we are in the south of France, where it is a bit warmer, with a maximum of 10 degrees in Perpignan, but in Wales, the real feel is around minus two degrees.

“This might influence how we play,” the coach added. “In terms of the squad, it is nice to get some of the senior guys back. When we arrive in France on Friday, we will do some final checks on how they are feeling.

“We might do some rotations this week and then have everyone ready for the Ospreys.”

Van Rooyen said a review of the Lyon match revealed plenty of room for improvement.

“We were too sloppy at times, we turned over too much ball. But to get a win at home to keep us alive in the Challenge Cup was the goal of the weekend. It means we have the opportunity to stay alive by winning in France.

“The result is very important because you do not want to leave your fate to other teams, and have things come down to matters such as points difference. We want to see if we can get a win and slip into the last 16.

“Against the Ospreys, we want to stay in the hunt for the URC playoffs; we want to close the gap on the teams ahead of us in the top eight. We want to consolidate our position.”

The Lions are in seventh place in the top eight of the URC after winning four of their eight games, and have a game in hand over most of the teams.

The defeat of Lyon moved the Lions up to fourth and into the qualifying places in Pool 2. Benetton and Newcastle are way out in front, followed by Perpignan and the Lions on six points, and the Dragons with four. Even Lyon on two points are not completely out of it, and there is still all to play for in the final round of fixtures.

Also in the Challenge Cup, the Cheetahs’ playoff hopes ended when their match against Ulster was called off shortly before kick-off on Sunday due to the field being deemed unplayable. Ulster were awarded a 28-0 bonus-point win by the organisers.

The fixture had already been moved from the Cheetahs’ home base of the NRCA Stadium in Amsterdam to behind closed doors at Dukes Rugby in Hertogenbosch due to the brutally cold conditions sweeping across northern Europe.

It leaves the Cheetahs rooted to the bottom of Pool 3 on zero points and playing for pride against Racing 92 in France on Sunday.