Lions up for challenge of French giants Racing 92

The Lions are fired up and ready for their massive last 16 encounter against French giants Racing 92 in the Challenge Cup at Ellis Park on Saturday evening (kick-off 6:30pm).

After winning two, drawing one and losing one of their pool games, the Lions managed to secure a home knockout clash, but due to finishing third in their pool they were matched up against Racing, who were knocked out of the Champions Cup after a poor pool campaign.

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The visitors will thus be eager to bounce back from that disappointment with a strong run over the remainder of the Challenge Cup, while the hosts will be hoping that home ground advantage gives them the edge over their French opponents.

“We are up for the challenge, we have to be. There has been growth and development in the team which is a great sign. We back one another’s abilities and support each other. Racing is a fantastic side who play exciting rugby,” said Lions centre Manuel Rass ahead of the match.

“We have studied them well and we are all aligned on how we want to play. It’s knockout rugby so we need to be ready for anything thrown at us. Our prep has been good and we are confident in our abilities and the plans that have been set out by our coaches.”

The Lions have enjoyed a strong run of performances in the United Rugby Championship of late, picking up three wins in a row, including last weekend over Benetton in Italy, and they will be looking to take that form and momentum into the clash against Racing.

Lot of confidence

“We take a lot of confidence from these last three games. We’ve really rallied together as a group to give the fans something to shout about. We hope that the team vibe that we currently have going will propel us forward in this competition,” said Rass.

“Racing are a quality side. But we’re at home in front of our fans, so we are relying on their support to take us further.

“We obviously back ourselves on the back of three great victories in the URC, so we want to take that form into the match on Saturday.”

The win against Benetton was a particularly good result for the Lions in that they had to battle back from big deficit to win, and they will hope to have that same sort of character against Racing, especially after a good build-up to the game in training.

“Training has gone well and all of us are aligned. The mood has been great. We are enjoying one another’s company and building relationships off the field. The tour (to Italy) was good for us and we now want to build on that momentum,” explained Rass.