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The Lions are again in danger of missing out on the URC top eight for a fourth consecutive season.
The Lions players will be disappointed with themselves after a dreadful first half performance saw them succumb to a big URC defeat against Glasgow Warriors over the past weekend. Picture: Roberto Bregani/Gallo Images
It almost seems like “Groundhog Day”, or should we call it “Groundhog Year”, because the Lions are once again in danger of missing out on the United Rugby Championship (URC) playoffs?
Over the past three URC seasons it has been the same old story for the Johannesburg franchise. They show lots of promise, just to flatter to deceive, and stumble when it matters most.
I feel like a stuck record talking about their dreadful inconsistency — going from world beaters one week to embarrassing losers the next. It is not good enough for a team with such lofty ambitions.
With four pool rounds left in the current URC season, the Lions are in dire straits and again don’t have qualification for the top eight in their hands, and will need to win their remaining games while hoping other results go their way to make it into the quarterfinals.
They are currently 14th on the URC log, six points off the top eight, which is a dreadful turnaround as they left for their two-game URC tour two weeks ago in eighth place.
Just before their tour they thrashed a Springbok-laden Sharks 38-14 at Ellis Park, and just missed out on stunning them on their home patch, going down 25-22 in Durban.
They thus had great momentum going on tour, but instead lost a game they should have won against Cardiff in Wales, 20-17, and were absolutely crushed 42-0 by defending champs Glasgow Warriors in Scotland over the past weekend.
In the first URC season, the Lions finished 12th, while over the past two seasons they have finished ninth, with last season particularly harsh as they ended level on points with eighth placed Ospreys, but missed out on the knockouts on number of games won.
With this season’s URC log packed so tightly, it could once again come down to tie-breakers to separate teams making the top eight and missing out.
The Lions’ remaining games are all against teams who’re also still in the quarterfinals mix: against Benetton (7th), Connacht (13th), Scarlets (11th) and Ospreys (12th).
A slip up against any of these teams would spell doom for their campaign for the fourth successive season.
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