In-form Lions looking to recover ahead of next block of matches

After an impressive start to their United Rugby Championship (URC) campaign the Lions are ready to refresh and recover before getting stuck into the next block of fixtures after the international break.

Following the November internationals the URC will resume for one week, before the Champions and Challenge Cup competitions kick off, which will bring an added challenge to the South African sides again.

The Lions are the second-best placed SA team heading into the month-long break, sitting fourth on the URC log on 18 points, with the Bulls third on 19, while all the SA teams have a game in hand over the rest of the sides in the competition after their opening fixtures were delayed.

The Lions seem to have taken the momentum from their strong Currie Cup run into the URC, winning their opening four games before finally going down to Irish giants and table toppers Leinster last weekend.

Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen said this was the perfect opportunity to give his charges some well-deserved time off, although he lamented them being unable to build on the good momentum they had built up.

Time off

“We are going to give some of the guys two weeks off and others who played a bit more Currie Cup three weeks off. That will give us two weeks for some and one week for others of prep before we get into the Munster game week,” said Van Rooyen.

“So it is a little bit of a refresher and refocus for the guys while they’re off, and then a couple of weeks preparation focus before we play Munster and start the next block.

“It (international breaks) is always a doubled edged sword. While you have a bit of momentum you would like to keep going. But also, we know it is a really long season and plenty of rugby to go.

“So to get an opportunity to refresh bodies and minds a little bit, come up with one or two new plans and then prep that with a little bit of time before the next block is also nice.”

The Lions resume their URC campaign at the end of November with a tough game against 2022/23 champions Munster in Limerick, and with the former winners having had a difficult start to the season that sees them sitting 12^th on the log, it will be a huge game for both sides.

In December the Champions and Challenge Cup competitions kick off, with the Lions starting off against Ospreys in Swansea, before returning home to face French side Section Paloise at Ellis Park.

They then close out the year with an away trip to Cape Town to face the Stormers in the URC, and they will hope to still firmly be in the top half of the table.

Lions rest of year fixtures

URC v Munster – Saturday November 30

Challenge Cup v Ospreys – Sunday December 8

Challenge Cup v Section Paloise – Saturday December 14

URC v Stormers – Saturday December 21