Lions eager to test themselves against world’s best club side

The Lions are licking their lips at the prospect of testing themselves against the best club team in the game when they clash with Leinster in a United Rugby Championship match at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Saturday night (kick-off 6:15pm).

It has been a fantastic start to the Lions’ URC campaign, with the Joburg-based side having won four from four to sit second on the log on 18 points, behind table toppers Leinster, who are on a perfect 25 points having won all five of their games with bonus points.

It is thus all set up to be the Lions’ biggest challenge of the season, a game in which they will have to hit peak form if they are to have any chance of upsetting the competition favourites.

The Lions enjoyed two strong home wins against Ulster and Edinburgh, but on the road they have been pushed hard by arguably the two weakest teams in the competition, just edging Dragons 23-19 and Zebre 10-9 in their past two games.

They will have to be much better this weekend against the Irish powerhouse, if they are to even challenge them, and lock Reinhard Nothnagel admits the squad is well aware of the huge test that awaits them.

Nervous energy

“The vibe in the squad leading up to Saturday is good. There is a bit of nervous energy, but in a good way,” explained Nothnagel.

“Everyone knows that Leinster is one of the best, if not the best club side in the world and I think it will be a test for each and everyone of us to measure ourselves this weekend to see where we are at.

It is a massive test playing at the Aviva. This is the first time for everyone in the squad to play at this stadium. So it is a big opportunity for us to go there and express ourselves. We will give it our best shot this weekend.”

Nothnagel credits the Lions impressive start in the URC to their strong Currie Cup campaign, which saw them lose just one pool stage match on their way to hosting the final, where it took a penalty after the fulltime hooter for the Sharks to steal the title away from them.

“One of the biggest reasons for our good start to the season was us having a good Currie Cup (campaign) before the start of the URC,” admitted Nothnagel.

“A number of those players (who played in the Currie Cup) are also involved in the URC currently and taking that momentum from the Currie Cup into the URC has really helped us a lot.

“We have also built some good depth, which allows is to rotate the squad more this season, and I think everyone in the squad realises that it is going to take a full squad effort if we want to go all the way in the competition. It can’t just be 23 guys playing week in and week out, it’s a long season.”