Lions enter must-win territory

The Lions are looking ahead to two must-win local United Rugby Championship (URC) derbies at Ellis Park in February when they host their cross-Jukskei rivals the Bulls followed by the Sharks.

The Lions reached the halfway point of the URC season over the past weekend when they went down 30-28 to the Bulls at Loftus, which has left them 10th on the log on 24 points.

However it is a very congested log with just four points separating Munster in 11th place and

Ulster in fifth, which should make for a thrilling back end to the competition as teams battle for a top eight place to make the play-offs.

It is thus vitally important that the Lions pick up at least one win from their next two home games, as they leave for a tough two match overseas tour after that, and if they head to Europe on the back of two home losses it could leave them with too much to do.

“Our next two games are Bulls and Sharks at home. They are must-win games for us. If we can get eight to 10 points out of those games it will leave us in a position that when we go on tour we can stay in the fight and get as many points as possible,” explained Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen.

“If I am honest we can be better at home as well. But it’s going to be a nice challenge for us to have the Bulls, who are flying high, and the Sharks who have drastically improved over the past four weeks at Ellis Park.”

Although the Lions have won four and lost five games so far this season, all five of those defeats were by seven points or less, showing how they have been competitive in every match and could actually have walked away with a few wins if things had gone their way.

However they will also be frustrated to have come so close in many of those games without managing to get over the line.

“I think it’s a bit of both (proud to be within seven but frustrated not to win). We have shown great fight and great character to stay in these games.

“So we are creating opportunities, but are we really capitalising? That’s an area we can improve a little bit,” said Van Rooyen.

“We know that we are giving ourselves opportunities, but it’s now about taking them.”