Lions licking lips for derby revenge

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The personal battles in the URC’s South African derbies are what ramps up the excitement for Lions scrumhalf Morne van den Berg as the Lions prepare to face the Bulls at Ellis Park on Saturday afternoon.

“It’s massive for us as players, you are playing against fellow South Africans,” Van den Berg said at a press conference on Tuesday, referring to the mindset of the Lions in the build-up to a match that impacts the URC’s mini-log, called the SA Shield.

The SA Shield is won by the South African team that accrues the most log points in URC derbies every season. The Stormers currently lead the charge on 11 log points, though they have played three derbies while the Lions and Bulls have only played one each.

READ: Bulls savouring 'spicy 80 minutes' at Ellis Park

“It’s personal, playing against people you know, it’s the games you want to play and do well in,” added the Lions halfback, who made his Bok Test debut last year. “It’s exciting for the public as well and in this run of games you are going to see extra energy and bigger collisions. We are going to be up for it.”

Lions coach Ricardo Loubscher echoed Van den Berg’s comments, focusing on the battles and challenges between the SA franchises.

“It brings bragging rights,” Loubscher said when asked about the positives of winning SA derbies. “The advantage and momentum you gain within the camp is great.

“It’s a big occasion to play in a derby, we can’t say it’s a normal game, this derby is personal. All we can do is focus on what we do well and play according to our style, hopefully that will give us an opportunity to throw punches on Saturday.”

The Bulls swept the Lions in the URC last season, with a 25-10 loss at home to the Herd fuelling the pride’s preparation for this week’s clash.

“The disappointment last year against the Bulls, especially the game at Ellis Park, we made a lot of individual errors, ” said Loubscher. “We helped them back into the game, the disappointment was that we didn’t play our way.

“This week there will be a lot of emphasis on what we need to do as a team versus adapting to the game all the time and letting the Bulls dictate the pace and flow of the game.”

“It’s been a while since we played at Ellis Park, we haven’t been able to correct that performance from last season, not just the result but how we played that day, ” Van den Berg added. “We’ve taken good learnings since that defeat and we know what to expect. ”

Loubscher gave a positive injury update following the 60-10 win against Dragons, with flyhalf Sam Francis given the green light to return this week after being replaced by Gianni Lombard.

“Sam Francis is good to go, the doctor gave us the good news,” Loubscher revealed. “He wasn’t feeling great after the game but he joined us in training today and we are excited to give him another opportunity this weekend. We were very happy with his performance against the Dragons.

“Sibabalo Qoma has rejoined us but he is still not eligible for this weekend. Kade Wolhuter and Richard Kriel are both back with us and available. It’s great to have those two players back. We feel as coaches they can make a difference this weekend.”

Photo: Chris Fairweather/Gallo Images

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