Lions confident they can deal with wet conditions against Ospreys

The Lions feel they can rectify the mistakes they made against Munster by the time they take on the Ospreys in the first round of the Challenge Cup (EPCR) on Sunday.

These being, strengthening the scrum, making correct decisions on the field, and executing already-rehearsed gameplans.

Lions must improve after ‘disappointing’ Munster loss

The Lions lost 17–10 against Irish side Munster in the United Rugby Championship (URC) on the weekend, yet they are in fifth place on the URC table after four wins from six games.

The Welsh side, the Ospreys, by comparison, are down in 14th place. They have two wins out of seven games, their last contest also being a defeat (22–17 against Zebre) and they will also be eying a win in the first round of the Challenge Cup to prove their calibre.

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Head-to-head, the sides have each won two games, the most recent being when the Ospreys beat the Lions 36-21 in the URC in March. Before that, the Lions lost 38-28 in January. Prior to that, they won the first two encounters between the sides 28-27 and 45-15, both in the URC in 2022.

Lion scrum coach Julian Redelinghuys and speedster Tapiwa Mafura told media on Tuesday the Munster loss was especially disappointing because they felt they were in a great position to make history as the first South African side to beat the Irish giants on their turf.

However, they were confident they could learn from the game before playing against the Ospreys in Swansea this Sunday.

Implementing what they already know

Redelinghuys said the Lions were expecting wet conditions that would make handling difficult.

“We are expecting a physical game from the Ospreys. We are expecting a tough game, a kicking game,” he said.

He added though the Lions need to improve their performances in Europe, they have been competing in wet conditions there for years.

“The wet fields change the way you play and of course you wear different studs for different pitches. You adapt. But after three years playing in Europe you get used to it. We have been able to get good solutions [to this problem].”

Mafura added a problem against Munster was the mental game. This will not be repeated against the Ospreys, he said.

“When we analyse the game we see opportunities created and opportunities to do better,” he said.

“Thankfully the problems are not hard to fix. They are small, little errors we need to fix on the field, like communicating better, organising better, making sure we create opportunities better.”

Turning to the scrums, the pair said the Lions had dominance in the scrums against Munster but this did not translate into points.

They said the Lions will look at dominating the scrums again against the Ospreys so they can turn scrums in the opposition half into points.

Kick-off is at 5.15pm.

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