Lions ready for massive catfight
BOOST: TIMELY RETURN FOR TEAM’S SPRINGBOKS STARS
Rudolph Jacobs
Faced with a Currie Cup knockout situation against the Pumas in Nelspruit tomorrow night, Golden Lions prop Jacobie Adriaanse says the team are aware of the high stakes.
Just four points ahead of the Pumas in the standings, the Lions need at least a draw to qualify for the semifinals next weekend, with a probable away clash against the Sharks on the cards.
“It’s a competition of six games and it comes down to this one,” Adriaanse said. “They will come with the same intensity as us, so we have to ensure we turn up.”
With Springboks, like flyhalf Elton Jantjies and centre Lionel Mapoe, back in the team and others, including lock Franco Mostert and wing Aphiwe Dyantyi, having trained with them in the build-up to the match, it was a real injection to the side.
“To welcome the Boks back was fantastic,” Adriaanse said. “They had a great tournament and it’s nice for us to have them back as part of the family.
“The experience and calmness they brought with them was great.”
As a journeyman who had previously turned out for Boland, the Kings, Griquas, the Bulls, Scarlets and Montpellier, Adriaanse, 33, said there was no seniority in the Lions side.
“As a team we spoke the whole week about how excited we are. For us it’s about going out there and performing the best we can.
“So we don’t focus too much on a knockout scenario, but tick the boxes and go out and put certain processes in place.”
Having lost their last two matches to Western Province and the Sharks, Adriaanse said a twoweek break had been uplifting.
“We looked at our mistakes and identified them. We learned from that and we worked hard, but we also enjoyed each other’s company.
“We are all professional players and it’s the job we do.
“We fairly often trained game intensity to ensure we remained game fit and we had a great coaching team who ensured we did not lose that match sharpness.”