The Emirates Lions are hoping that a boost of returning players from injury will give them the edge in their next Vodacom United Rugby Championship outing against Scottish side Edinburgh on Saturday.
The Lions beat Ulster in their opening fixture last weekend, bouncing back from the disappointment of losing the Currie Cup final the previous weekend in dramatic circumstances, but still had to pull out all the stops without a number of players.
Fielding six debutants, the Lions won 35-22 in an early afternoon fixture and will now face Edinburgh, who had a close loss at Loftus Versfeld in their next game this weekend.
And they’re banking on the return of a number of first choice players, who missed the opening round to return to boost them ahead of the game.
Those missing from the Ulster game included a number of their first-choice players - captain Marius Louw being one of the big cats missing, while flanker JC Pretorius and winger Richard Kriel could also return if declared fit.
The Lions will also welcome back halfback Morne van den Berg, who has returned from Springbok duty and will be keen to get back into action before a possible call-up for the November tour.
“There’s a group of four or five guys that trained with us on Thursday and Friday, possibly they can be back within the next two weeks but we’ll have to go through the medical processes,” Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen said after the game.
And the prospect of the returning players, along with the talents of the likes of Quan Horn, Henco van Wyk (who returned from a long-term injury) and last week’s captain Francke Horne will excite any Lions fan.
We're at it again it this Saturday #ForOurCity.
— Lions (@LionsRugbyCo) September 30, 2024
🆚 @EdinburghRugby
🗓: Sat, 05 Oct
⏰: 13H45
🎟: https://t.co/N32DNV1mNt
🏟 : Emirates Airline Park
🏆: @URCOfficial_RSA@Vodacom #URC | #HitsDifferent#LionsPride🦁 pic.twitter.com/yuM8COpjIe
Van Rooyen was happy with the result, considering the disappointment of the Currie Cup final, and the fact that this squad had just a few sessions to prepare for their first match.
“The goal was five points, a lot of things to fix but I think if you look at the bigger picture, we had two sessions to prepare, six debutants in the URC for us, first time beating Ulster, then I’ll take the five points with a lot of fixing.”
“It was quite somber in the week which was understandable, everyone’s in it and I think that’s where we are currently,” he explained.
“Obviously that loss last weekend was tough on everyone, but happy with the little bit of continuity we could get out of that – guys being in form.”
Van Rooyen knows that Edinburgh will be a tough nut to crack, and will be smarting after close losses to Leinster and the Bulls and will want to leave South Africa with points.
“Altitude won’t affect them. They are a quality team. They have bought and developed some promising players over the pre-season,” Van Rooyen explained.
“I see they are one of the pre-tournament favourites, to be the side that really improves and be in contention for the cup. They are a quality team with a lot of South Africans and international players.”