Lions and Bulls keen to keep that winning feeling in the URC

The Lions and Bulls are keen to build on their momentum when they take on Cardiff and Connacht in United Rugby Championship (URC) clashes on Friday night.

The Lions take on Cardiff in Wales (kick-off 8.35pm) and will be hunting a second scalp on the road after their 28-27 upset win over Ospreys last week.

The Lions will be riding high after that superb result to start their three-match European Tour and will fancy their chances against a team that they beat comfortably at Ellis Park earlier this year.

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They also backed consistency with the team that did the business against Ospreys, making just two changes as young centre Henco van Wyk returns to the starting line up in place of Zander du Plessis who drops to the bench, while Pieter Jansen van Vuren comes in at lock for Ruben Schoeman.

The exciting halfback pairing of Sanele Nohamba and Gianni Lombard, who impressed against Ospreys, has also been retained and they will get another chance to shine, with Morne van den Berg and Jordan Hendrikse set to play off the bench.

For Cardiff they will have their internationals available, which they didn’t have for their previous game against the Lions, and will be eager to bounce back after being thumped 52-24 by Glasgow Warriors away from home.

They will be confident back at home after they beat Munster there in their opening URC match of the season and will be keen to get back to winning ways over the Lions.

Bulls targeting third win

The Bulls will be expected to rack up their third win of the URC season when they welcome Connacht to Loftus (kick-off 6.30pm).

The Bulls started their season with a strong 31-15 away win over the Lions, but were given a big fright by Edinburgh last weekend as they just managed to edge a tight contest 33-31.

A trio of Springboks make a return to the Bulls line up, as Kurt-Lee Arendse, Canan Moodie and Sbu Nkosi all come into the back three, which bolsters an already powerful backline, while Johan Goosen shifts to flyhalf.

They will be strong favourites to pick up a solid bonus point win over Connacht, to build up a good head of steam as they head off on their European Tour next week.

Connacht have had a tough start to the season, having suffered heavy defeats against Ulster (36-10) and the Stormers (38-15) away from home, and it is hard to see them getting anything out of their game against the Bulls on the Highveld.

The other two local franchises, the Stormers and Sharks will both be in action on Saturday, with the Stormers up against Edinburgh at the Cape Town Stadium (kick-off 2pm) and the Sharks taking on Dragons in Wales (kick-off 8:35pm).