Hendrikse on the rise as he battles Gianni for Lions starting spot

Lions flyhalf Jordan Hendrikse produced a statement performance in a man-of-the-match showing in his team’s 33-25 United Rugby Championship (URC) win over the Dragons at Ellis Park over the past weekend.

Hendrikse was in sublime form, scoring in every possible way as he scored a try, slotted a drop goal, kicked two conversions and three penalties, to provide 21 of the Lions’ 33 points in the match.

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After the game Hendrikse said he was happy with his performance and that it all came down to having confidence in yourself.

“It’s all about confidence at the end of the day. If you have that confidence when everything is flowing you feel that aura in terms of backing yourself and that’s what I felt today,” explained Hendrikse.

“With the team performing and getting front foot ball thanks to the go forward provided by our set piece working out for us, I just felt that level of confidence and then backed my ability.”

Hendrikse has been battling for his number 10 spot this season with the revitalised Gianni Lombard, and after the first five games off the new URC season had only started one game, with Lombard having started four, however he has now started the Lions’ last two games and is showing good form.

“If you don’t have the opportunity to play, that’s when you can work on stuff off field in terms of goal kicking and just getting that back to 100% instead of 85%. So it’s all about being patient and waiting for your opportunity again,” said Hendrikse.

Good start

With the Dragons win being the Lions first home win of the season, it was a good start to a tough 10 game block of fixtures for the team, that includes the Challenge Cup, and Hendrikse says the team needs to build on this result with their next few home games.

“It was good to get back after a couple of weeks off, get our first win of the season at home and break that losing streak,” said Hendrikse.

“It is good momentum getting a win now and having a couple of home games. But we have to be consistent now because consistency is key, especially at home. We had a good away tour getting three wins overseas, but it’s now about doing that at home.”

Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen is also very happy with the form of his two pivots, admitting that it has given him a good headache in deciding who to play each week.

“Jordan has been training exceptionally over the last three weeks. He gives us something different to Gianni and it is a nice headache to have. One’s defence and kicking game is world class and the other’s attack is world class,” said Van Rooyen.

“Depending on how we want to play or what’s needed in the moment we can start or bring on either and it is great to have both of them excited to play and make a difference.

“It is also a case of developing both players. They are both still young, they are pushing each other to get better and we are excited about the future with them.”