Lions primed to bite Edinburgh
BLAIR: COACH SINGLES OUT THEIR NEVER-SAY-DIE ATTITUDE
The Lions couldn’t be in a better position as they take on the biggest challenge of their early season European tour against Edinburgh in the United Rugby Championship in Scotland tonight (kick-off 8.35pm).
They head into the match off a two game winning run in Wales, having beaten Ospreys and Cardiff, and they will be full of confidence taking on an Edinburgh team that has lost their last two games, on tour in South Africa.
With Edinburgh also having played their previous game last Saturday, while the Lions played on Friday, and having flown back to Scotland, it gives the Lions a fantastic opportunity to upset one of the strongest teams in the URC.
Edinburgh will however be champing at the bit to get back to winning ways after going down against the Stormers and Bulls on successive weekends, and will be looking to bounce back with a big home win over the Lions.
The Lions have mostly kept faith in the team that did the business against Cardiff, with just two changes.
Ruan Venter rotates at flank and Emmanuel Tshituka drops to the bench while Stean Pienaar slots straight into the No 14 jersey in place of Edwill van der Merwe, who was concussed in the last game, ruling him out of the Edinburgh clash.
Edinburgh coach Mike Blair is also keenly aware of the danger posed by an in-form Lions team, after they beat them in last season’s clash at Ellis Park, and is expecting a tough encounter.
“They’ve been excellent haven’t they? They’ve just got this never-say-die attitude about them. They’re a really cohesive group who work really hard for each other and have sprinklings of stardom in there as well,” Blair said in a press conference ahead of the game.
“Like the Stormers and the Bulls they’re a big physical side. You’ve got to be able to match them and get at least parity in the set-piece. And then look to be smart around how you manipulate them.
“They’ve made good strides. They were good last year and very difficult to beat at home in Johannesburg.
“We felt that we could have done a little bit better out there. But they’re certainly a team playing with cohesion and confidence at the moment.”