‘It’s gonna be lekker,’ says Whiteley about return to Lions’ den

Former Springbok and Lions star Warren Whiteley is looking forward to his return to the union, albeit on the other side of the dugout as the Sharks defensive coach when the teams resume their United Rugby Championship campaign this weekend.

The Lions welcome the Sharks to Ellis Park for what should be an action packed encounter between the two highest placed SA sides in the URC.

“It’s gonna be lekker. I have such good friends there and such fond memories of my time at the Lions, so I am really going to enjoy this weekend and I am looking forward to seeing everyone again,” said Whiteley.

“But this weekend is all about getting back into rugby. The guys have really worked hard and the South African teams have shown great improvement as this competition has gone on.

“The Lions in particular have improved immensely, they showed that in their match against the Stormers and we are looking forward to the challenge.”

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Both sides have not played since their final matches of last year at the start of December, when the Sharks beat the Bulls and the Lions beat the Stormers, and they will have to get straight back into it this weekend.

It kicks off a tough four week session of local derbies as the SA teams vie for supremacy on the local front.

“The boys just want to play. It was a challenging 2021 and we are just proud of the way the guys have trained over the past couple of weeks,” admitted Whiteley.

“We started in December already after a short break and the guys have just got on with it under difficult circumstances with Covid and everything. So I think overall we are just looking forward to getting back on the field and playing some rugby.

“The team drew a lot of confidence from that game against the Bulls. But we are now looking forward and our focus is fully on the coming local fixtures.”

With automatic qualification for the European Rugby Championship Cup for next season up for grabs for the local side that tops the SA regional shield pool, these four derbies are vitally important in the SA teams’ quest to make it into the European showpiece.

“All the South African teams will be looking at these four games knowing that they are extremely important in trying to become the top local side and that’s what everyone will be aiming for,” said Whiteley.

“We are under no illusions that there is a big task ahead of us, but we are extremely excited for the challenge and we are looking forward to it.”