Buoyed by their impressive start to the season, the unbeaten Emirates Lions are now targeting their first two away fixtures for points to help them on their road to their Vodacom United Rugby Championship goal - finishing in the top four of the competition.
The Lions set the ambitious goal before the season started, having finished outside the top eight last season and their incredible first half performance against Edinburgh this past weekend reignited hopes they may be able to achieve this - especially as one of only three sides currently unbeaten in the competition.
They now head offshore for their three week tour - which by all accounts should be something they are looking forward to. Dragons and Zebre are their first two opponents, and while a lot better than last season, both will be targeted for victories on a tour that could catapult them forward towards the goal they are looking for.
Carrying the hopes of Our City as we take on Dragons in Wales this Sunday.
— Lions (@LionsRugbyCo) October 7, 2024
🆚 Dragons
🗓: Sun, 13 Oct
⏰: 15H30
🏟 : Rodney Parade
🏆: Vodacom United Rugby Championship@vodacom #URC | #HitsDifferent
#LionsPride🦁 pic.twitter.com/Yq85lSn6vs
If that happens, they have a final pool showdown against Leinster in Dublin, and even though they won’t be fancied to win that one, they can return with four wins out of five for the start of the competition before heading into the EPCR Challenge Cup fixtures.
All this will be remarkable if it happens, and you can’t help but understand why Lions fans are dreaming - their play over the first two weeks of the competition is a direct result of their games in the Currie Cup, a tight-cohesive squad and a clear goal in how they want to play.
The Lions know their smaller squad may well catch up to them by the end of the season, but for now they have hit the ground running and are looking to capitalise. And a lot of that has to do with how they managed their players during the recent Currie Cup.
Coach Ivan van Rooyen admitted that this was a key part to their form thus far, and they will be looking to ensure they don’t let up ahead of a tough season ahead.
“ I think it's the alignment and understanding of the whole system,” Van Rooyen said. “We knew we wanted to target the Currie Cup and see if we can win it. I think we were quite open with everyone around that.
“In there, the management of a certain group of players to play the Currie Cup, a certain group to do a bit of URC pre-season and then use some games to see combinations and get them going. There was good alignment between the Currie Cup coaches and management and the URC coaches and management. Training against each other every day in the build-up to URC, there was some good synergy there.
“And that allowed us to be honest with the players as well. We were probably undercooked in terms of preparation, but we were ready because we had guys that played quite a bit. So obviously satisfied with the ten points in the first two games.”
Van Rooyen went on to warn that the Dragons were not likely to be easy beats, especially with the way they pushed the Sharks to the limit this past weekend. The Sharks needed a try after the hooter to grab the win and the Dragons will be disappointed with not getting the victory on home soil. Zebre, as well, despite losing to the Stormers this past weekend, beat Munster last weekend in the biggest shock of the competition thus far, showing they have improved immensely from last season.
“I think Dragons have improved immensely if you look at the first two rounds. Zebre was probably untouchable in that second half against Munster. And then we have Leinster at the Aviva, they'll probably pick their strongest team before they get to the November break. So it's definitely three tough games.”
Van Rooyen added the team believed they could achieve the goal of top four this season, and that their destiny was in their own hands.
“That’s the goal. Within the group we feel it's achievable for us,” he said.
“If we do our best and play what we can, we honestly feel we can get there. If we focus, and it's going to sound cliché, but we really focus on the first two home games. On tour it's always a little bit of a smaller group.
“ We spend more time together, so the tour is different and gives us different challenges. We know that we've really got to be in tip-top form against Dragons if we want a result, and the same with Zebre. Like you said, we like playing against the Leinsters and the Munsters because that's where you see where we are and where you can test yourself.
“So before we can get to Leinster and Munster, obviously the Dragons game is the most important. But after the Munster game, that's when EPCR starts to happen. There's two games here and then back to the Stormers.
Then there's - planning-wise - a lot of ifs and buts and selections and all of that. As a group we knew we had five games to get going and get across the board. So the first two are done and the next two are important.”
The Lions are set to leave for their three week tour on Tuesday.