URC preview: Lions pumped for tough Edinburgh challenge

The Lions couldn’t be in a better position as they take on their biggest challenge of their early season European tour when come up against Edinburgh in the United Rugby Championship (URC) in Scotland on Friday night.

They head into the match off a two game winning run in Wales, having beaten Ospreys and Cardiff, and they will be full of confidence taking on an Edinburgh team that has lost their last two games, on tour in South Africa.

With Edinburgh also having played their last game on Saturday, while the Lions played on Friday, and having flown back to Scotland from SA, it gives the Lions a fantastic opportunity to upset one of the strongest teams in the URC.

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Edinburgh will however be champing at the bit to get back to winning ways after going down against the Stormers and Bulls on successive weekends, and will be looking to bounce back with a big home win over the Lions.

The Lions have mostly kept faith in the team that did the business over Cardiff, making just two changes, as Ruan Venter rotates in at flank and Emmanuel Tshituka drops to the bench.

Stean Pienaar then slots straight into the number 14 jersey in place of Edwill van der Merwe who was concussed in the last game, which ruled him out of the Edinburgh clash.

Aware of danger

Edinburgh coach Mike Blair is also keenly aware of the danger posed by an in-form Lions team, after they beat them in last season’s clash at Ellis Park, and is expecting a tough encounter on Friday.

“They’ve been excellent haven’t they? They’ve just got this never-say-die attitude about them. They’re a really cohesive group who work really hard for each other and have sprinklings of stardom in there as well,” Blair said in a press conference ahead of the game.

“Like the Stormers and the Bulls they’re a big physical side. You’ve got to be able to match them and get at least parity in the set piece. And then look to be smart around how you manipulate them.

“They’ve made good strides. They were good last year and very difficult to beat at home in Johannesburg. We felt that we could have done a little bit better out there. But they’re certainly a team playing with cohesion and confidence at the moment.”