Lions will look to rewind the clock when they face Connacht in Joburg

The Lions will be looking to rewind the clock when they welcome Connacht to Ellis Park for their United Rugby Championship clash this weekend.

An impressive four match winning run over overseas opposition was snapped by the Sharks in their last game, and the Lions are aiming to return to winning ways against a tricky Irish opponent.

Their four match winning run saw the Lions playing in favourable conditions on the Highveld, which allowed them to play their brand of rugby, however, against the Sharks, in torrential rain in Durban, that went out the window in their last game.

With conditions set to suit the home side again this weekend they will be eager to take advantage of that and bounce back in style.

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“We want to go back to how we played in those four games before the Sharks match. Looking at the Sharks performance, credit to them, they put us under a lot of pressure and forced a lot of mistakes through their set piece and kicking game,” explained Lions backline coach Ricardo Loubscher.

“Defensively we made too many errors, so no excuses from our side. But now we have to make sure that we bounce back.

“Connacht is a team that plays with a lot of belief and work hard for each other, so we have to find ways to break them down.

“The best way to do that is to go back to our strengths and play to our DNA. We want to keep the ball alive and shift the point of contact, so hopefully we can do that again and get ourselves back to winning ways.”

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Despite the disappointing showing against the Sharks, the Lions will take a lot of confidence out of their previous matches at home, where they impressed in picking up some big scalps including Munster and Edinburgh.

Connacht will pose a different challenge and they are better than their current 10^th position on the URC log suggests, but if the Lions can get their game plan firing and utilise the inevitable effects of the Highveld on their overseas opposition, they should be able to seal a good win.