Lions seek to build on Pau result against Stormers in URC clash

The Lions will be aiming to build on a morale boosting win against French side Section Paloise (Pau) in the Challenge Cup, when they travel to Cape Town for their United Rugby Championship (URC) match against the Stormers on Saturday.

The Lions arrested a three-game losing streak with their high scoring weather affected 43-35 win over Pau last week, and it came at the perfect time as they take on the struggling Stormers at Cape Town Stadium in their final match of the year.

Having started the URC with four straight wins, the Lions have lost their last two games in the competition, tough away clashes against Irish giants Leinster and Munster, which has left them fifth on the log.

They then lost to Ospreys in their Challenge Cup opener before their win over Pau, and they will hope to take that momentum into this weekend’s URC match.

The Stormers have been in poor form in the URC, with just two wins from six games to sit 13^th on the log, but have also been badly affected by an injury crisis that has seen 17 frontline players missing in action recently.

They suffered defeats in both their Champions Cup games, going down to Toulon in Gqeberha, before being thrashed 53-16 by Harlequins in London over the past weekend.

Rested players

But they left a number of players at home for the Quins game, on top of their injuries, with a firm eye on the Lions URC match, so they will be well rested. And with the possible return of players such as Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Deon Fourie and Frans Malherbe, they will be confident.

“It’s back to the URC, and off to Cape Town. I see the Stormers left behind quite a bit of their players, so they obviously put a big focus and emphasis (on Saturday’s match). So it is a big South African derby just before Christmas,” said Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen.

Van Rooyen admitted his side had made some welcome improvements in their win over Pau, after their run of losses, and that they would be looking to improve further in their match against the Stormers.

“A lot of the focus points in terms of learnings from the Ospreys and Munster games we managed to address. We had big work-on for us on defence and I think we were a lot better there,” explained Van Rooyen.

“On attack our ability to see pictures and go there I think was a lot better. Obviously after every game review we will find stuff to work on, but in general, after the short week I think it was a decent performance against a really good team.

“It was important for us to get the first win to get us going in the competition. Especially with it being our last game at home (for the year) which we spoke a lot about.”