Matfield makes his Lions mark

Former Springbok legend Victor Matfield (above) has already left his mark at the Golden Lions.

While the results haven’t yet been forthcoming in the Currie Cup competition, captain and prop Jacques van Rooyen heaped praise on Matfield’s input thus far.

The former Bok lock’s influence as forward coach and being a lineout expert was clear in the way the Lions put the Cheetahs’ solid lineout under pressure last weekend in Bloemfontein.

“He has already forgotton things that we still have to learn,” said Van Rooyen.

“Specifically, he has been very helpful in our contesting so it has been a great honour to have been working with him.”

While the Lions scrum was initially under huge pressure against the Cheetahs last weekend where loosehead Corne Fourie was blown up against Johan Coetzee, Van Rooyen believed it was a situation they corrected later.

“They got us unawares in a few scrums in the first half but I think we did well to rectify matters as the game wore on,” he said.

“I think later we started to dominate in the scrums, so I was happy that during the game we were good enough to fix things.”

The Lions will also be boosted by prop Ruan Dreyer today when they announce their team for the Pumas clash on Saturday.

Dreyer has been granted permission by the Boks to fly Down Under later that the rest of the squad due to compassionate reasons after his son was born.