Battling Lions ready for ‘big one’ against Stormers

Lions scrumhalf Andre Warner is backing his side to come right when they host the Stormers in their United Rugby Championship match at Ellis Park on Saturday.

The Lions have struggled in their last three games, losing against the Sharks and twice against the Bulls, with two of those results coming at home, and they will need to try and reverse those fortunes against an in-form Stormers team this weekend.

ALSO READ: Youth vs experience: Lions and Stormers in URC scrum battle

“John Dobson is a very good coach, so the Stormers are going to come here with a vengeance and we are ready for that,” Warner said.

“We have lost our two previous games at home so this is a big one for us. We have to get a home victory.

“I think in a tournament like this you can’t dwell too long on previous games. On Mondays we have our review session and see where we went wrong and then we move on to the coming week’s challenge.

“So the mood in the team is positive. We are a very process driven team, so we focus on the stuff we can control in the week and prepare as best we can. Training has been good and we have no new injuries, and one or two are guys coming back, so it’s been a good week for us so far.”

ALSO READ: ‘A work in progress’: Stormers shake off favourites tag

Warner has enjoyed a pretty solid season so far in the URC for the Lions and has played an important role in some of their best results, including a big win over the Stormers in Cape Town in December.

His quick service and nippy breaks have been a feature for the team and have helped put them on the front foot on a number of occasions this season, and he will be looking to do that again and get the backline firing against the Stormers.

“There is always room for improvement. If it goes well for me that’s great, but the team is the most important thing, so I do everything that I can to make sure that we come out on top,” said Warner.

“As a scrumhalf it is quite important that I play well because I am the link between the forwards and the backs. I also have to make sure that we play in the right areas on the field and make good decisions, so I am constantly trying to do that.

“We have our plans for the weekend and how we can manipulate the Stormers. The team that plays in the right areas of the field tends to dominate the game so we will look to do that and I will try to get the backline going.”