Lions may call in reinforcements ahead of Ospreys clash

The Lions might need to call in some backup ahead of their United Rugby Championship (URC) clash against Ospreys on Saturday, with prop Asenathi Ntlabakanye expected to receive a ban after he picked up a red card in their historic win over Connacht last week.

Ntlabakanye smashed Connacht flank Conor Oliver with a high tackle early in the game and was given his marching orders by referee Craig Evans, and he is possibly set to miss out on the rest of the Lions’ European tour after he faces the URC disciplinary committee.

The Lions took five props on tour, with PJ Smith and Morgan Naude the looseheads and Ntlabakanye, Conraad van Vuuren and Ruan Dreyer the tighthead options, so they may look to bring in another tighthead during the week.

Waiting for outcome

“We are going to take it on merit and wait to see what the outcome is with Ase (Ntlabakanye). He is unlucky. Sometimes it is just the roll of the dice and you get your technique wrong. The refs are there and they are strict and tough on the tackle height,” said Lions assistant coach Ricardo Loubscher.

“He is a great team guy so we will have to wait and see what the outcome of that will be. We have enough depth (in the position) and if we need to fly in someone that will be the plan going forward.”

Fit squad

Other than Ntlabakanye, the Lions are expected to be at full strength for their clash against Ospreys with no serious injuries picked up in the brilliant 38-14 win over Connacht, of which Loubscher said the whole coaching team was incredibly proud.

“We had a medical meeting this morning and we are just waiting for an update from the doc. But at the moment everyone seems good to go and nothing is too serious at this stage,” said Loubscher.

“To get a red card that early in the game really put us under a lot of pressure. But credit to the boys, their ability to adapt and the mindset to go on and put in such a good performance was fantastic.

“We (the coaching staff) are really proud of their performance and hopefully now we can go one more this weekend and get excited about another opportunity (to beat Ospreys).”

Pretorius in form

One of the big reasons for the Lions’ win over Connacht was the performance of flank JC Pretorius, who put in arguably his best showing for the team since making the switch to 15s from sevens, and he was duly rewarded with the man-of-the-match award.

“The conditions can’t get any worse in Galway, especially with it being an open stadium. The wind was blowing very hard at the captains run so we were prepared for anything and we did very well,” said Pretorius.

“We were very glad it didn’t rain because it allowed us to play our game. The guys stuck to their guns, especially after Ase got his red card. It seemed to flip a switch for everyone to go at 120% from then on.

“It’s very special to win against Connacht in Galway with 14 men. It shows what we stand for. Taking five points from the game was a massive step towards our goal and I think the boys really enjoyed the win.”