The Lions have the SA Shield in the bag, but Ivan van Rooyen says the focus is firmly on securing a Top 8 finish.
Image: Backpagepix
The Lions launch Saturday’s packed URC schedule action with a home match against an Edinburgh side bereft of most of their Scottish internationals, who are resting after the Six Nations.
With six rounds to go to the playoffs, coach Ivan van Rooyen’s team are in their best-ever position in the United Rugby Championship (seventh), at this point.
They know that today’s home match is a golden opportunity to move further up the URC ladder and consolidate their bid for a first-ever playoff.
The Lions are at Ellis Park, in form, and at full strength, while Edinburgh are under strength, so the Lions can have no excuse if they do not cash in on this opportunity.
Next week, the Lions host the Dragons, and then the Glasgow Warriors and Connacht follow, all in Joburg. The Lions finish with tough away matches to Leinster and Munster.
“Ideally, we’d love to do the majority of the business before we head to Ireland,” Van Rooyen said. “You don’t want to place yourself in that situation of having to go there needing six or eight points to qualify.
“The four home games are important for us to put ourselves in a position where we don’t need to perform miracles or pull a rabbit out of the hat.
“We also can’t get carried away in chasing a certain amount of points – the focus for us is on Edinburgh, for us to start well and get this fixture over before focusing on the next game.”
Teams
Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Angelo Davids, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Bronson Mills, 11 Erich Cronje, 10 Chris Smith, 9 Morné van den Berg, 8 Francke Horn (captain), 7 Ruan Venter, 6 Siba Mahashe, 5 Darrien Landsberg, 4 Etienne Oosthuizen, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 PJ Botha, 1 SJ Kotze. Bench: 16 Franco Marais, 17 Eddie Davids, 18 RF Schoeman, 19 Reinhard Nothnagel, 20 Batho Hlekani, 21 Renzo du Plessis, 22 Haashim Pead, 23 Richard Kriel
Edinburgh: 15 Harry Paterson, 14 Malelili Satala, 13 Matt Currie, 12 Mosese Tuipulotu, 11 Jack Brown, 10 Ross Thompson, 9 Ben Vellacott, 8 Magnus Bradbury (captain), 7 Freddy Douglas,6 Ben Muncaster, 5 Glen Young, 4 Marshall Sykes, 3 D’arcy Rae, 2 Dylan Richardson, 1 Boan Venter.
Replacements: 16 Ewan Ashman, 17 James Whitcombe, 18 Paul Hill, 19 Callum Hunter-Hill, 20 Liam McConnell, 21 Charlie Shiel, 22 Cammy Scott, 23 Piers O’Conor
Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy).
Assistant referees: Hanru van Rooyen (South Africa), Stephen Geldenhuys (South Africa).
TMO: Eoghan Cross (Ireland)