Lions enter ‘critical’ two-game period to get URC campaign back on track

A critical two games at home await the Lions as they prepare to take on the Dragons in their United Rugby Championship (URC) clash at Ellis Park on Sunday afternoon.

The Lions have had a mixed season so far, producing a stellar run of form away from home to clinch an unbeaten three match tour of Wales and Scotland, but they have not managed to back it up at home, suffering three losses.

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They lost their opening game of the season at Ellis Park against the Bulls, before going down in a thriller against Ulster following their away tour, before their match against Glasgow Warriors was postponed, with them then losing against the Stormers just before the international break.

They now face a two game run against Welsh sides that are considered as weaker opponents in the URC, making it the perfect time for the Lions to try and turn around their poor home form.

‘Critical for us’

“I feel that the next two games are going to be critical for us, just to get that winning momentum back at home. Our form at home has been disappointing so far this season because we want to play good rugby for the fans and bring more people in to watch,” said Lions eighthman Francke Horn.

“So that is something that we want to address starting this weekend. We obviously take it game by game and team by team, but we want to start playing better at home and hopefully we can do that against Dragons on Sunday.”

The Dragons have however enjoyed a decent season so far and head into the game off of two wins, against the Ospreys and Zebre, and having upset Munster earlier in the competition they will be confident of trying to upset the home side.

The Lions have however been working hard over the past few weeks and are ready to get back down to business.

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“We had a very good few weeks and we are looking forward to the next 10 games on the trot. We have spoken a lot about game management, especially going into some wet and cold conditions (in the UK and Europe) in January,” explained Horn.

“So I think we have been focusing on that and also to try and play as much rugby in the right areas of the field that we can. That is also an important focus point for us.”

Following the Dragons match the Lions will face the Scarlets, who have not enjoyed a good season so far with one win and one draw against five losses so far, and if the Lions can pick up a positive result on Sunday they will head into that game with a lot of confidence.