The Citizen (KZN)

Cronje believes the Lions are getting it right

- Rudolph Jacobs

The Lions’ former Springbok scrumhalf Ross Cronje believes the best is still to come from his team despite fighting for a Super Rugby home play-off spot against the Bulls at Ellis Park this weekend.

The Lions will either have to beat the Bulls at Ellis Park on Saturday or hope the Sharks beat the Jaguares in Durban to secure a home quarterfin­al.

“I think we are going to be peaking at the right time,” he said yesterday.

“I still don’t think we have clicked 100% this year.

“And I am hoping it’s going to happen now leading to the playoffs,” said Cronje.

Cronje, who only returned from a knee injury in their previous game against the Sharks, said it would be premature to start stressing whether they would be forced to travel after the home quarterfin­al ... if they get there.

“Every player is different, but for me it’s just about focusing on the job at hand.

“Whatever happens after this weekend, if we have to go overseas and play, then we have to go and do a job,” he said.

“It would however be great to get a home quarterfin­al and get the crowd and support around us. It’s the best stadium to play at in the entire world.”

Cronje admitted there would be extra pressure on the Lions, with the Bulls just playing for pride.

“I think the whole year there’s been a lot of pressure on us, every single game we have gone into, every single team have been wanting to beat us,” he said.

“So literally we haven’t had an easy game this whole year to get ourselves up.”

But Cronje is adamant the Bulls would be coming to Ellis Park to knock the Lions over.

“Yes, the Bulls don’t have anything to play for, except pride,” he said.

“But I still believe they would like to get one over us, something that hasn’t happened in a while.”

Five readers can each win four tickets to watch the Lions take on the Bulls in a Super Rugby match. Simply SMS the keyword RUGBY followed by your full name, date of birth and email address to 33521. Competitio­n closes at midnight tonight. Match kicks at 3.05pm on Saturday July 14 at Ellis Park. Winners to collect tickets from in Johannesbu­rg no later than Friday July 13 by 4pm. SMSs are charged at R1.50 each and errors will be billed. Free and bundle SMSs do not apply. T&Cs apply. By entering the competitio­n, you agree to sign up to free online daily newsletter and accept standard terms and conditions, and the competitio­n rules as published on

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