Lions making progress after promising start to Challenge Cup

The Lions are continuing to progress and learn after a promising start to their Challenge Cup campaign over the past two weekends saw them go unbeaten in their opening two matches.

It was important for the Lions to open their campaign on a positive note with their first two games at home, followed by two away games to end the pool stage, and although they will not be entirely happy with the eight points picked up, they are firmly in the mix for qualification.

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They started their campaign with a 31-all draw against the Dragons in a match they were expected to pick up a full house of points from, but followed that up with a good 30-12 bonus point win over Stade Francais last week.

 “There is definitely progression. If you take someone like Jordan (Hendrikse) tonight, what an experience for a 22-year-old to play in a tough game against unknown opposition on a Friday night,” said Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen after the match.

“The ball was wet. The momentum was going for us and then against us. So it was invaluable experience that the guys have picked up already in this competition. There are still a few things to fix but I am really excited about where we are and where we are going.”

United Rugby Championship

The Lions now head back into the United Rugby Championship (URC) competition this weekend, with a tough away match against the Sharks in Durban, and they will hope to take the positives from the past two weeks and keep improving.

With two away games in South Africa over the next two weekends, against the Sharks and Stormers, followed up by a tough four-game away trip to Europe in January where they will battle it out in the URC and Challenge Cup, the Lions will be desperate to get something out of their local derby clashes.

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“I think we will face similar conditions (from the Stade Francais game) in Durban. So this match was a really good experience. Normally when you play at night in the Currie Cup or when we played Super Rugby it was winter and the conditions are dry,” explained Van Rooyen.

“So these conditions are something for us to get used to. We also need to improve our game management in these conditions because sometimes it was good and other times it wasn’t.”