Lions kill two birds with one stone

REACTION: The Lions’ big Currie Cup win over the Bulls in Olifantsfontein in Round Nine has not only put them in a favourable position heading into play-offs, but it was also a morale-booster heading into the upcoming United Rugby Championship.

Head coach Ivan van Rooyen brought in several URC stars and Boks for that encounter and they scored eight tries on their way to a convincing 57-33 victory.

The win lifted the Lions to the top of the standings with just one round left to play ahead of the semifinals and it was a good outing for the front-line players that will do duty in the URC.

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When asked if he was happy with that scoreline, Van Rooyen said: “With the score, you would say yes.

“I think defensively you don’t want to concede anywhere near four or five tries, so there is a lot of work for us individually.

“But looking at the bigger picture, there were six or seven guys that haven’t played this year [in the Currie Cup], so to get a go against a Bulls team that was top of the table was good.”

Van Rooyen added: “With the build-up to the URC there should be some changes over the next three weeks, so it won’t be the same team next week.

“It is important for us to get everyone playing and get everyone ready by using the Currie Cup and see how well we can perform and see what we can get out of it.”

There have been reports that the opening round derbies in the URC on September 21 could be moved to a later date to make way for the Currie Cup Final. However, Van Rooyen is just focussing on the job at hand.

“We were open and honest with the players from the beginning that we were going to use this game [against the Bulls].

“I think we’ve got something like 15 injuries, so we were forced to not change the 23 [in previous rounds] and I think for continuity and keeping the momentum it was actually good.

“You could see someone like Jarod [Cairns] and Renzo [du Plessis] coming off the bench and you could see that they played six or seven games.

“There were a couple of new combinations out there.

“We’ve got the Griffons next week and it’s important to see if we can get five log points and then it’s the play-offs.”

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