Johannesburg - A most important next step for the Lions is about to start this weekend: Their first home leg of fixtures in the United Rugby Championship this season – and as has been established ad nauseam regarding playing at home, one needs to make it count.
Tomorrow, the Lions begin a five-match home run in the tournament, starting with Ulster. In spite of recent successes, this is where their season will be decided. Lions defence coach and former Springbok Jaque Fourie knows that, the greater management teams know that, and the players know it, too.
“Yes, we had a good tour but we haven’t achieved anything yet,” Fourie said.
“The competition isn’t won in the first four games, so we are focusing on the next three games we have at home. We want to start well now at home against Ulster, against Glasgow, and then the last one (before the international break) against the Stormers.
“It will be vital for us to do well at home.”
Fourie’s input has done wonders for the team. In their victories over Ospreys, and specifically against Cardiff and Edinburgh, it was the Lions’ defence that eventually won the day.
In previous seasons, it was a major crutch, but now it has become one of their biggest strengths. Nevertheless, the Lions still missed 71 tackles in those three matches and they can ill afford such lapses if they are to be considered a top eight threat.
Fourie, however, could appreciate both the positive and negative aspects of their recent defensive efforts.
“They guys really came together in the last two games,” he said.
“We only had two or three players who missed most of those tackles. Those are individual errors that we need to fix ...
“The nice thing is the guys are working for each other. When someone misses a tackle, someone else is there to fix it. That, for me, is the character of the team, and it shows that the guys are playing for each other.”
That character will once again be of the utmost importance come gameday. Ulster are, statistically, the best attacking team in the tournament. They have scored the most points – 151 – and the second most tries with 20 so far.
They have crashed through defensive lines on 71 occasions and made 24 clean breaks, compiling 1 703m in the process – numbers that are all in the top five of their respective categories.
“Ulster don’t lack anything on attack,” Fourie said.
“They maul a lot, and Albert (van den Berg – the Lions assistant coach) has prepped the forwards for the weekend for what is coming. Hopefully, we can either win their ball in the air; or when they come down and maul, we can stop it there.
“It is going to be a big challenge for us, but one we will be capable of stopping then.”
Meanwhile, coach Ivan van Rooyen has made a handful of changes to the team. Edwill van der Merwe returns to the starting XV after completing his concussion protocol, while former Springbok Willem Albert will add his considerable bulk to the pack in the second-row.
Alongside Ruan Venter, the Lions now have two massive, belligerent units in their pack.
“Edwill is fresh, ready and raring to go. He is quite a vital part of our attack and our defence,” said Fourie.
“It is good to have ‘Vic’ back. He has been out of the game for quite a while now. It is always good to have that experience in your team, especially with the younger guys around you to calm them down.”
Elsewhere, Emmanuel Tshituka returns to the starting XV, while a new front-row consisting of JP Smith, Jaco Visagie and Ruan Dreyer will pack down against the Ulstermen.
Emirates Lions Starting XV: 15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Edwill van der Merwe, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Marius Louw, 11 Quan Horn, 10 Gianni Lombard, 9 Sanele Nohamba, 8 Francke Horn, 7 Ruan Venter, 6 Emmanuel Tshituka, 5 Reinhard Nothnagel (capt), 4 Willem Alberts, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 Jaco Visagie, 1 JP Smith
Replacements: 16 PJ Botha, 17 Sti Sithole, 18 Ruan Smith, 19 Pieter Jansen van Vuren, 20 Sibusiso Sangweni, 21 Morne van den Berg, 22 Jordan Hendrikse, 23 Zander du Plessis