The 'culture shock' awaiting ambitious Lions in Bridgend
The Lions play their home games at the iconic 62,000-seater Ellis Park, in the derelict Johannesburg suburb of Doornfontein.
It will be a massive culture shock for the Lions players when they arrive at Bridgend’s old-school Brewery Field for a United Rugby Championship crunch match on Friday.
Brewery Field, Ospreys’ temporary home for the 2025/26 season while the St Helen’s renovations are ongoing, have a capacity that can be pushed to 12,500.
However, the record crowd for the retro venue is 8,159.
Seating is limited to approximately 2,000, with standing room in the terraces accommodating the majority of spectators.
Then there’s the adverse weather.
The predictions for Friday evening are for rain, wind gusts of 70km/h and a chilly -4°C.
The Lions’ new forward coach Wessel Roux is familiar with Europe’s intimate, lilliputian venues.
The three-times capped Springbok, with 100-odd games for the Bulls, spent the latter years of his playing career in France, in the colours of Toulon (playing home games at the 17,500-capacity Stade Mayol) and Bourgoin-Jallieu (playing at Stade Pierre Rajon, capacity 9,441).
The latter is a venue that closely resembles the unique culture the Lions will experience on Friday, an intimate setting where it feels as if the spectators are almost on top of the field.
Having based themselves in Cardiff, a 35-kilometre drive on the M4 west to Bridgend, the Lions were also unable to do any pre-match preparation on the pitch, and will have just a light captain’s run to familiarise themselves with the venue.
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“It is a different experience,” the assistant coach told @JanDKrugby, adding: “The crowd is very vocal, volatile in support of the home team and aggressive against the opposition.
“There is also not any protection from the wind and elements, so it will have a big impact on the game.
“That is part of the beauty of the game, a great experience and can help you to focus more.
“It feels a bit like a club game.”
Young tighthead prop RF Schoeman, who this week signed on for another three years at Ellis Park, said it is not a bad thing to experience contrasting conditions and a different environment.
“Compared to Ellis Park, it is a big difference, but that is not what it is all about,” the front row forward said.
“For me, it is just another opportunity to play rugby, no matter where it is.”
With the Lions in seventh-place on the standings (21 points, three ahead of the ninth-placed Ospreys), the race for play-off places is going to get very congested.
“It’s sometimes too energy sapping to just think about the mathematical equations,” Roux told @JanDKrugby, adding: “We are focusing on Ospreys and taking it one game at a time, as cliched as it sounds.
“While every game is important, this is a crucial game for us.”
Ospreys’ biggest advantage is their familiarity with the fickle Welsh weather and the conditions in Bridgend.
“It was 5°C, wet and windy when we trained. The conditions are more challenging and very different,” Roux said.
Schoeman said last week’s heartbreaking draw against Union Sportive Arlequins Perpignanais, in Perpignan, a loss that knocked them out of the Challenge Cup, is a prime example of the need for ‘accuracy’ in the testing European conditions.
@JanDKrugby
@rugby365com
