Lions backline eager to hit their straps again in Ospreys match

The Lions backline has once again started to fire, having played a key role in the team’s successive victories over Cardiff and Munster which reignited their United Rugby Championship campaign.

They will now aim to take that momentum into their clash against Ospreys at Ellis Park on Friday night and pick up another morale boosting win.

At the start of the year the Lions went on a dreadful losing run, with their struggles to score tries playing a big part in that as they managed only four in four games leading up to the Cardiff match.

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However, with the backline leading the way in their last two games, the Lions have run in six tries, with the backs dotting down five of them as they picked up a bonus point win over Cardiff and secured a superb come-from-behind victory against Munster.

“As players we are trying to eliminate our unforced errors, move the ball around more and execute the game plan the coaches have put up for us. The better we do that the better the result we get on the weekend,” said Lions wing Edwill van der Merwe.

“Obviously we didn’t do that well (during the losing run), but we have been better in our last two wins. But we are still working hard and taking it game by game and we are looking forward to another good performance on the weekend against Ospreys.”

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Van der Merwe has been a big beneficiary of the Lions’ improved attacking play, scoring three of their six tries in the last two games, and the former Stormers star seems to have finally settled in on the Highveld after his move late last year.

“I feel like I have found my feet here in Joburg. I’ve been here for five months now and my teammates and the coaches have made it easy for me to just slot in and immerse myself into the culture we have here at the Lions,” Van der Merwe said.

“I am happy to be scoring tries. It’s very exciting, but the credit must go to the coaches for working out the game plan and my teammates for executing it. I am just the last guy who receives the pass, so I am very happy to be scoring a few tries and hopefully some more in the future.”