Lions 'need to be brave' to beat Bulls

Xerox Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen believes his side need “to be brave” when they take on the Vodacom Bulls in their Carling Currie Cup semifinal at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

Van Rooyen named close to his strongest side, including veteran Springbok tighthead prop Jannie du Plessis for what looks like a massive scrum battle this weekend.

Du Plessis’s experience was preferred to Carlu Sadie while Sti Sithole will start the match as the Lions look for a big tight five struggle.

But more than that Van Rooyen wants his side to do something different to the two times they have faced the Bulls this season where they have ended up on the losing side.

“We’ve played them twice and came close twice,” he said.

“I think we did create enough opportunities but we didn’t take them. That mindset is key – it is going to be nice and warm and we need to see if the weather will help – and if we can play with the ball or if we can’t play with the ball.

“We need to brave, you have to be willing to give it a full crack. We are keen to go there and see if we can put them under pressure with ball in hand, or with a kicking game. We have worked hard in the last two weeks on decision-making and how we can use the pressure to our advantage. We are excited to see how the guys are going to react.”

Van Rooyen added that in the previous two games the Bulls dictated the tempo of the game, negating the Lions’ strengths and coming out on the right side of the scoreboard.

“The learnings from the previous game was that we allowed them to dictate the tempo of the game completely. Having a crack isn’t necessarily throwing the ball around. Having a crack is seeing if we can dictate the tempo.

“If we feel we have forward dominance, how can we use it? If we feel they put us under pressure under defence, how can we transition that to a kicking game? Having a crack is being able to apply pressure in different ways. We had a good review after our previous game against the Bulls and we are excited to see how we can do it this weekend.”

With the Bulls unbeaten at home this season, it will be a massive task for the Lions, but if they can dictate the tempo they have the strike power to beat any side. And Van Rooyen will be hoping this comes to pass.

Xerox Lions:Tiaan Swanepoel; Stean Pienaar, Wandisile Simelane, Burger Odendaal, Courtnall Skosan; Elton Jantjies (captain), André Warner; Len Massyn, Vincent Tshituka, Jaco Kriel, Marvin Orie, Willem Alberts, Jannie du Plessis, Jaco Visagie, Sti Sithole.

Replacements:Jan-Henning Campher, Ruan Dreyer, Carlu Sadie, Reinhard Nothnagel, Wilhelm van der Sluys, Morné van den Berg, Dan Kriel, Francke Horn, Nathan McBeth, EW Viljoen, Ross Cronjé.