Lions gearing up for tough three-match European tour

The Lions will be hoping for better fortunes as they head overseas for a tough three match UK tour, after they kicked off their United Rugby Championship (URC) season with a disappointing 31-15 loss against the Bulls at Ellis Park last weekend.

They play two matches in Wales over the next two weeks against Ospreys and Cardiff, before heading to Scotland where they will take on Edinburgh.

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Last season the Lions played all three of the teams at home and were lucky to play two teams during the 2022 Six Nations which meant they were without their internationals, which helped them beat Cardiff 37-20, Ospreys 45-15 and edge Edinburgh 15-9.

But this season will be very different with all three teams at home and with their full complement of internationals.

“I think the biggest learning from our early trip overseas last year was you are probably going to play against 10 plus internationals. So their game management, discipline and game management understanding is top notch,” admitted Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen.

“So you can’t afford to make simple errors like we did against the Bulls, gifting them easy three points to swing the momentum. So we have to be a lot more clinical in terms of game management, especially against those three teams.

“Ospreys have got a handful of British and Irish Lions players in their spine. Cardiff is a tough team and Edinburgh will threaten you with speed of play and a massive attacking game. So pretty much that last 20/25 minutes is the area that we need to be squeaky clean in over the next three weeks.”

Different conditions

The Lions will also have to contend with different conditions, which they experienced in the UK last season, and will also have to get to grips with the slippery 4G pitch that they will be playing a couple of games on.

“The second and third games are against Cardiff and Edinburgh on the 4G (pitch). I wouldn’t say that’s new but it’s very different to Ellis Park. You play a little bit differently over there, we experienced it last season,” explained Van Rooyen.

“The scrums are a little bit higher, the game tends to be a little bit quicker, the kicking game is a little bit different because it bounces differently there.

“We learnt some good lessons from Scarlets last year. That was the first Welsh team that we played against. But I also think that playing Ospreys and Cardiff here, we got a lot of learnings out of those games. So we are excited to go to Wales for two weeks and then on to Scotland.”