Kriel believes empty stands will level playing field for Lions

Without a partisan home crowd to motivate the Stormers at Newlands Rugby Stadium, much of the fear factor at the iconic venue may be lost.

That is the opinion of star Lions flanker Jaco Kriel ahead of Saturday’s Super Rugby Unlocked clash in the Mother City.

The Stormers are off a bye and will be well rested, while the Lions opened their account last week with a narrow defeat to the Sharks in Durban.

“With safety regulations in place and no spectators allowed in the stadium, it is the same for both sides and can be a leveller,” Kriel said.

It is no secret, however, that the Stormers have targeted this season to deliver their long-suffering fans some success.

Stormers and Springbok captain Siya Kolisi said during the week they had let their fans down in recent seasons, especially in Super Rugby.

The Lions, meanwhile, suffered a major setback with the withdrawal of their ‘bone collector’ lock Willem Alberts, after he had been in contact with a Covid-19 case.

Alberts has been replaced by the talented Ruben Schoeman, and there is no doubt they will miss his physicality.

“I think our set-pieces were better last week but still need further improvement,” added Kriel.

“We also know we are coming up against a formidable Stormers pack loaded with World Cup winners, so we will have to be up for it.”

A big factor will no doubt be the Stormers’ all-Bok front row of Steven Kitshoff, Bongi Mbonambi and Frans Malherbe, who made a big dent in the Lions scrum when they last met on SuperFan Saturday.

Stormers coach John Dobson, however, stressed they needed to show they were more than just a powerful scrum unit.

“It’s great to get that kind of advantage but we also want to show our innovation on attack and spread the ball wide,” he said.

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