Lions face some tough choices

The Lions remain at a crossroads - whether to try and rectify a poor ECPR Challenge Cup campaign or regroup and focus the energy at trying to get their first top-eight finish in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship ever.

That’s the quandary facing them this weekend as they host struggling French side Lyon in their Round 3 Challenge Cup game.

Both sides lost their two openers and even if they win their remaining two games are likely to have poor seedings when the playoff rounds arrive.

The Lions were buoyed by Haashim Pead’s late try to give them a derby victory against the Sharks last weekend, and the win lifted them to seventh on the log.

Considering the Lions have never made the top eight in the URC, and coach Ivan van Rooyen’s record in the competition hovers at under 50 per cent winning per centage, the team seriously will consider resting a number of players against Lyon and playing their wider squad rather than going hammer and tongs to resurrect the campaign.

It is a tough call, especially as Lions fans will want to see them get their season back on track in Europe, and follow up their win over the Sharks with another victory.

And while Lyon are likely to send a second string outfit now that they have lost their opening two games, the Lions cannot hope to simply turn up and win.

They did that in their last EPCR Challenge Cup game against Newcastle Red Bulls, who hadn’t won a game all season and conspired to lose a contest they dominated on a cold night up north.

But with some bigger games to come, including a derby against their neighbouring Vodacom Bulls when they return to URC action, there is a school of thought they should rather use the next two fixtures to rest players and come back firing when the fortnight is over.

The Six Nations break means there will be little action over the next two months and Van Rooyen can regroup for one off salvos with his players, and hope for the best to pick up as many points as possible.

The Lions certainly wouldn’t be the first or last team to contemplate such a strategy and couldn’t be blamed for it either.

It won’t help ticket sales for this weekend, but in the bigger picture, ending in the top eight means qualification for next season’s Investec Champions’ Cup and a whole lot more prestige.

It may also take the consistent criticism of Van Rooyen’s six year tenure without results down a bit, so there are many advantages.

But it could also backfire, and a loss against a weakened Lyon and another loss next weekend against Perpignan would add to the pressure on the team, and remind the fans that consistency certainly isn’t this side’s strong suit.

It would also erase the goodwill of the Sharks win and bring up the same questions that have been bubbling over for the past few seasons about the coaching side.

Either way the Lions management are between a rock and a hard place and only success will get them out of it.