The Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen believes his team is in prime condition following a structured three-week preparation period ahead of their United Rugby Championship encounter against the Bulls on Saturday, with kick-off set for 2pm.
The Lions went into the November international break on a high, having secured back-to-back home wins over Scarlets and Ulster. Those victories were much-needed after a rocky start to the season, which saw the team lose three consecutive matches on the road. Despite finally gaining momentum and getting the season up and running, Van Rooyen welcomed the break as an opportunity to address some of the issues that had plagued the squad in the opening months.
“We had a week off and then three weeks of hard work. Some good work, some really hard work. Physical work, Lion’s identity work, I almost want to say,” Van Rooyen reflected on the team’s build-up to the second block of fixtures.
“We feel we really had an exceptional three weeks. Last year, the URC went into the Currie Cup, and a large part of the group didn’t get a rest. We had to give them three weeks off and then only had a week of prep. This time, we feel a lot better prepared for the second block, which traditionally, we haven’t been that strong in.”
Van Rooyen acknowledged the challenges that come with the second block, particularly the demands of travel, squad rotation, local derbies, and the start of EPCR fixtures.
The Lions have often been inconsistent during this period, partly because they do not have the same depth in personnel as some of their rivals, including Saturday’s opponents.
“We spoke about it quite a bit. We need to be a lot more consistent in the second block,” Van Rooyen said. “There’s travel here and there, probably a bit of squad depth and rotation, as well as all the local derbies. We were quite open and honest about this block, and we need to be better at that.”
Despite key players being unavailable for the Loftus Versfeld clash, including scrumhalf Morne van den Berg and tighthead Asenathi Ntlabakanye, Van Rooyen remains confident in the depth of his squad.
“The guys we have are looking good and they offer something different,” Van Rooyen said.
“Obviously, we’re going to miss Morne and we’re going to miss Asenathi, who are part of our leadership group. They are ysters, as we like we say, in our team. The Bulls probably have a little bit more than us. Luckily they’re back next week for us. But yes, we will miss them, especially in person and the difference they make. But we also feel confident in the guys that need to replace them.”
Questions remain over the Bulls’ team selection, with returning Springboks such as Handre Pollard potentially available. Van Rooyen said he was unsure how many internationals would feature.
“To be honest, I’m not sure how many of the Boks the Bulls will actually play. I think the majority of them are still going to be with the Springboks. If there are one or two coming back, they have played before the break anyway,” the Lions coach said.
“In terms of cohesiveness, the team that’s going to play against us probably had these three weeks to prepare as well. What I heard is that they also had quite a tough break in preparation. So now I think they’ll be pretty far.”
