Lions have some bite despite huge injury blow

SPOTLIGHT: Lions loose forward Jarod Cairns will be eager to grab his opportunity at Ellis Park with both hands on Saturday.

After last weekend’s 29-18 victory over the Scarlets, Lions head coach Ivan van Rooyen spoke glowingly of the 24-year-old after he replaced JC Pretorius early in the first half.

Van Rooyen described him as a rare loose forward who is special across all three back row positions.

Cairns made a huge impact off the bench and walked away with the man of the match award.

This week, he gets an opportunity in the run-on side in the absence of Pretorius, who is sidelined for four months after injuring his knee last week.

“There is an opportunity [for me], obviously it’s unfortunate with JC and his injury,” Cairns told the media this week.

“JC and I work well together. We’ve prepped each other, we’re ready to go and fill in the jersey.”

Despite the prospect of a starting berth for the bulk of the season owing to some of the injuries in the squad, the loose forward is not looking too far ahead, with an emphasis on taking it one step at a time.

“We’ve got all our focus on Ulster now. We’re trying to take it step by step.

“The main thing is just to focus on what’s lying in front of us right now.”

The 24-year-old identified the breakdown as a huge part of their focus over the past week.

“We weren’t happy with the standard of the breakdown last week.

“We did quite a few breakdown drills before every training [session]. We know Ulster are going to identify that as an area where they can attack us.

“As a group, we have got to be stronger and quicker there.”

To get the team’s momentum going is at the top of the priority list, according to Cairns.

“We are playing to our strengths, and we are going to play the rugby that we know we are capable of playing.

“We are going to try and get the momentum back and get a couple of wins on the trot.”

By Ludumo Nkabi