‘Forwards will determine who wins between Lions and Bulls,’ says Jaque Fourie

Lions assistant coach Jaque Fourie believes the huge forward battle will be where the cross-Jukskei United Rugby Championship (URC) derby between the Lions and Bulls will be where the game is won and lost at Ellis Park on Saturday afternoon (kick-off 2:45pm).

Fourie was chatting to the media at a Lions field session earlier this week when he was questioned on how big an occasion the Highveld derby is and where the match would be won.

It’s a huge encounter for both sides, as although the Bulls sit fourth on the URC table, it is so congested that the 12^th placed Lions are just six points behind them, so a bonus point win for the hosts would bring them right up into the mix, while the visitors would drop.

Won up front

“Up front. Always with the Bulls it’s up front. If you don’t stop them up front it’s going to be a long day for you,” said Fourie.

“We still want to focus on what we want to do and it is important that we don’t make it bigger than it is. It is already a massive occasion, the Bulls against the Lions is always a big occasion. So we don’t want to blow it up too much.

“We know what to expect from them and what they will bring. They bring physicality with their pack of forwards and when they get go forward and get in behind you it becomes a tough day. So we know what we have to do to counter that.”

If the Lions want to pick up their first URC win at home against the Bulls, and just their second URC win in seven attempts against them, they will have to be at the top of their game on both attack and defence, and Fourie believes they need to be smart in the way they do that.

“It’s about being clever. You have to do the small stuff well at lineouts and scrums. It’s important to get the ball through whatever means. We need to secure our lineouts and get on the front foot at the scrums,” explained Fourie.

“Then when we get in behind them it’s the same for them, they need to stop us. A lot of our game plan is on the front foot. As soon as we get ball on the front foot and in behind them we need to keep them there on the back foot the whole time.”

Defence

On stopping them on defence Fourie said: “There is no other way than getting around the corner quicker than them, setting and getting off the line and stopping them. I told the guys it’s going to be a team effort.

“Everyone is going to have to roll up their sleeves and get stuck into them. If we can stop them during the first three phases then we’re in with a shout.”

Fourie admits that the coaches don’t have any trouble getting the players fired up for a game like this and that on Saturday they will be fully primed and ready for the challenge.

“If you have to hype your players up for the Jukskei derby, or any South African derby I think you are in the wrong sport. So we know what we need to do, the importance of the game and what we want to achieve from it,” said Fourie.

“It is going to be a good task for us on Saturday. But I think coming from the Dragons match, the guys can take plenty of confidence from that performance into the Bulls game.”