Lions eager to face Stormers after late change to fixtures

Despite the blow of missing out on the chance to host UK opposition at home for the first time in the United Rugby Championship, the Lions are happy to get the chance to play this weekend.

This follows the rescheduling of fixtures, after their matches against Cardiff and Munster were postponed due to the new Covid variant.

The Lions now travel to Cape Town where they will front up against the Stormers at Cape Town City Stadium, and both teams will be eager to put in a big showing in what is set to be their last match of the year before resuming again in January.

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“We are quite pleased that a plan was made for us to play this weekend,” said Lions captain Burger Odendaal.

“Looking back to last week, we were quite excited to play against Cardiff at Emirates Airline Park. Unfortunately things didn’t work out that way, but what remains is hard work at training and perhaps tweaking a few aspects of our game for the new opposition.”

This weekend’s match is the first since the November International break for both sides, with the Lions having suffered three defeats on the trot since winning their URC opener, while the Stormers settled for two losses and a draw before winning their final tour match.

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Both sides are thus at the wrong end of the table and will be keen to pick up a valuable win to start moving back up the standings, which should lead to a thrilling encounter.

“We are ready to play. It’s going to a great local URC derby, especially with both teams having not played since coming back from tour in the middle of October,” said Odendaal.

“Any opportunity to play is great for the team and even better for rugby as a whole. It is obviously going to be a tough match and it’s never easy going to play in Cape Town.”

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The Lions had been hard at work over the past few weeks preparing to face Cardiff and Munster, and though the Stormers now offer a different challenge, the team has a good idea of what to expect and will be prepared accordingly by the weekend.

“Training has been extremely good. Since resuming training after a break upon arriving back from tour, guys have been pushing quite hard, which is fantastic. We believe in hard work and good preparation,” explained Odendaal.

“On Saturday We expect to execute our plans and strategies we’ve set out for the Stormers. We know they play an expansive brand of rugby, so we’ll prepare accordingly, but we will also be ready for anything other than the expected approach.”