The Emirates Lions look set to start their must-win EPCR Challenge Cup fixture against French side Pau without three of their frontline players, who are doubtful after picking up injuries during the recent tour overseas.
While the Lions will only name their team on Friday, three frontline stars were not part of their training on Thursday as the Lions hosted some media interviews ahead of the clash.
Springbok Quan Horn, SA A midfielder Henco Venter and winger Richard Kriel were all noticeably absent as the Lions went through their paces in the Joburg heat ahead of a game they simply must win if they are to have any say in the Challenge Cup.
Pau are 10th in the French Top 14 and have won just four of their 11 games, which should play in the Lions’ favour, but they cannot be complacent after their mauling at the hands of Ospreys last weekend.
In contrast Pau beat Newcastle Falcons 32-19 in their opening fixture.
Assistant coach Ricardo Loubscher is wary of the French side, and said the Lions should use the conditions to their advantage to ensure a fast start to the match.
“They are physical and they’ve got some big boys. They can attack so your defence must be good, but from our point of view, we want to make sure we put them under pressure.
“We really need a good start so for the first 20 minutes we want to be direct and play with tempo and accuracy,” Loubscher said.
The Lions will be looking to fix a lot of mistakes that let them down against Ospreys and Munster and know they are better than their performances in those two games.
“There are a lot of mistakes we need to fix after the Ospreys game, and the Munster game as well. But we are excited and want to put in a good performance.
“In general I think our work rate off the ball could be better. We want to be ball in hand this weekend, we want to attack so we need to make sure that we are working hard to get into those positions so we can take advantage of those opportunities, ” he added.
The Lions will name their side for the match on Friday.