URC, Round 13 - Teams and Predictions
FRIDAY PREVIEW: The Lions are determined to have their destiny in their own hands during the business end of the United Rugby Championship.
With just six rounds left to play until the quarterfinals, the Lions are sitting in eighth spot with 29 points.
However, this season’s play-off race is tighter than ever as only four log points are separating the Johannesburg side from Zebre in 15th place.
Ivan van Rooyen’s side will start this crucial period of the season on tour with a match against Cardiff at Arms Park on Friday before facing Glasgow at Scotstoun Stadium a week later.
“We really want to start this tour well,” said Lions assistant coach Barend Pieterse.
“These two games are very important for us to get as many points as possible, so when we get home, everything is in our hands.
“We don’t want to be in the same position as last year when we had to wait for that last game for someone to win or lose.
“We want to know where we are with two or three games in hand.
“At the moment we do know where we are – the log is very close and everything is in our hands at the moment.”
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It won’t be easy for the Lions in Wales, especially with Cardiff getting Matt Sherratt back after his brief stint as head coach of the national team.
“This game is going to be very tough. They are a different team compared to previous seasons and their head coach was more involved with Wales,” Pieterse explained.
“They are a well-drilled team and they showed so much improvement from last season.
“If you look at the log, it is so close and every point counts. We need to win and that will be a big focus for us.”
Meanwhile, Sherratt is aware of the significance of this showdown as his team will head into the fixture just two points ahead of the Lions in the standings.
“There’s been a three-week break and that’s why you’ve got to be really mindful. It’s actually been good for me to come in after two days off and take stock, really,” said Sherratt.
“It’s not trying to come in and almost play your absolute A-standard rugby in the first 20 minutes because the players haven’t played for three weeks.
“It’s going to be key for this game, playing ourselves into it, not giving the Lions easy ins early on and making sure we get back up to speed, get the flow of the game, get the contacts back in our bodies and then try and get our A-game on the field.
“The coaches, obviously whilst I’ve been away, have done a good job on [the importance of Friday]. This game will dictate which path we go on for the rest of the season.
“It’s a key game, it’s at home, it’s against a team that is around us in the league.
“You can see it’s a tight league and you can go from third to almost 12th in a couple of weeks. So, it’s important that you pick points up at home.
“That’s what we’ll be focusing on is trying to get as many points as we can.”
Meanwhile, Friday’s other match is a mouthwatering one with Munster travelling to Glasgow.
“We’re looking forward to being back in action this weekend, as we kick off a run of three home matches in front of the Warrior Nation,” said Glasgow head coach Franco Smith.
“We know that the rivalry with Munster is known to everyone, but we’re concentrating on reintegrating everyone back into our environment after the Six Nations to help grow our continuity for the rest of the season.
“We’re also pleased to welcome Sione [Vailanu] and Kyle [Steyn] back to the line-up after their respective injuries; both men have worked hard in their rehabilitation with our medical and strength and conditioning teams and are raring to go tomorrow [Friday] night.”
See below for Friday’s teams and predictions!
United Rugby Championship
Friday, March 21:
Cardiff v Lions
(Arms Park, Cardiff – Kick-off: 19.35; 21.35 SAST; 19.35 GMT)
Head-to-Head
Last 4 Meetings
Prediction
@rugby365com: Lions by four points.
Teams:
Cardiff: 15 Cam Winnett, 14 Gabriel Hamer-Webb, 13 Rey Lee-Lo, 12 Rory Jennings, 11 Harri Millard, 10 Callum Sheedy, 9 Johan Mulder, 8 Alun Lawrence, 7 Alex Mann, 6 Ben Donnell, 5 Seb Davies, 4 Josh McNally, 3 Rhys Litterick, 2 Liam Belcher (captain), 1 Danny Southworth.
Replacements: 16 Efan Daniel, 17 Corey Domachowski, 18 Keiron Assiratti, 19 Teddy Williams, 20 James Botham, 21 Thomas Young, 22 Ellis Bevan, 23 Tinus de Beer.
Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Richard Kriel, 13 Manuel Rass, 12 Marius Louw, 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Gianni Lombard, 9 Nico Steyn, 8 Francke Horn (captain), 7 Ruan Venter, 6 JC Pretorius, 5 Darrien Landsberg, 4 Ruben Schoeman, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 PJ Botha, 1 Juan Schoeman.
Replacements: 16 Franco Marais, 17 SJ Kotze, 18 RF Schoeman, 19 Ruan Delport, 20 Siba Qoma, 21 Layton Horn, 22 Jarod Cairns, 23 Henco van Wyk.
Referee: Federico Vedovelli (Italy)
Assistant referees: Adam Jones (Wales), Aaron Parry (Wales)
TMO: Stefano Roscini Italy)
Glasgow Warriors v Munster
(Scotstoun Stadium, Glasgow – Kick-off: 19.35; 19.35 GMT)
Head-to-Head
Last 5 Meetings
Prediction
@rugby365com: Glasgow Warriors by nine points.
Teams:
Glasgow Warriors: 15 Kyle Rowe, 14 Sebastian Cancelliere, 13 Ollie Smith, 12 Stafford McDowall, 11 Kyle Steyn (captain), 10 Adam Hastings, 9 George Horne, 8 Jack Mann, 7 Sione Vailanu, 6 Euan Ferrie, 5 Alex Samuel, 4 Jare Oguntibeju, 3 Patrick Schickerling, 2 Johnny Matthews, 1 Jamie Bhatti
Replacements: 16 Grant Stewart, 17 Nathan McBeth, 18 Sam Talakai, 19 JP du Preez, 20 Gregor Brown, 21 Matt Fagerson, 22 Ben Afshar, 23 Duncan Weir.
Munster: 15 Ben O’Connor, 14 Seán O’Brien, 13 Tom Farrell, 12 Alex Nankivell, 11 Andrew Smith, 10 Tony Butler, 9 Paddy Patterson, 8 Gavin Coombes, 7 John Hodnett, 6 Alex Kendellen, 5 Tom Ahern, 4 Fineen Wycherley, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Diarmuid Barron (captain), 1 Jeremy Loughman.
Replacements: 16 Danny Sheahan, 17 Josh Wycherley, 18 John Ryan, 19 Brian Gleeson, 20 Ruadhán Quinn, 21 Ethan Coughlan, 22 Gordon Wood, 23 Rory Scannell.
Referee: Morne Ferreira (South Africa)
Assistant referees: David Sutherland (Scotland), Finlay Brown (Scotland)
TMO: Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)
Picture credit: @LionsRugbyCo
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