'Grounded and honest': The Lions' view ahead of demanding Irish tour
SPOTLIGHT: The most demanding Irish tour is what stands between the Lions and history.
The Lions, third on the United Rugby Championship standings, will fly out on Saturday to get a full week of preparation to face a Leinster team that is also involved in a Champions Cup semifinal against Toulon this coming weekend.
With seven teams in a mad dash for the six remaining play-off places, every result in the last two rounds will have a material effect on the standings and qualification.
To add more intricacy to an already complex list of potentialities, the top nine teams will face off in the final fortnight of the league stages.
Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen was a happy man, as his team kept their dream of a first-ever URC play-off spot alive with a 33-21 win over Connacht last weekend, an unprecedented sixth successive win of the season.
They now have their destiny in their own hands.
“If we leave it up to other teams, we will put ourselves into a difficult position,” he said of the two-match Ireland tour, where they will face powerhouse Leinster in Dublin and Munster at Thomond Park in Limerick.
Teams in the race for play-off spots will play each other.
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Connacht, currently ninth, plays Munster (fifth) and Edinburgh (out of the running).
That is a result that will have a significant influence on the Lions’ chances of reaching the play-offs (and qualifying for the Champions Cup) for the first time.
Ulster (eighth) faces the Stormers and Glasgow Warriors, the Bulls (seventh) face Zebre and Benetton, while Cardiff (sixth) is up against Glasgow and the Stormers.
“It will be a tough tour,” Van Rooyen said about the trip to Dublin and Limerick.
“At least it is still up to us.”
Turning to his team’s game and areas to ‘work on’, the coach said “patience on attack” is a focus for the team.
“Our line-out also doesn’t always function as it should.
“If you don’t get that right, you can’t exit or apply pressure in the scoring zone.
“There is enough to work on to keep us grounded and honest.”
Van Rooyen said ‘two wins’ is the ultimate goal, to ensure they not only qualify, but also host a play-off or two.
“It won’t be easy, but two victories will do the job,” the coach said.
“We know the amount of work that will be required, so we won’t get carried away by our current position [third].”
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