The Lions will look to tame the Dragons on Sunday when the two meet in a United Rugby Championship (URC) clash at Ellis Park on Sunday at 4pm.
The URC returns for the first time in four weeks as it looks to peak during the summer season. The Lions have had a steady season so far, winning three games and losing the same number of matches, leaving them in ninth place on the log.
The Joburgers have failed to make Ellis Park a fortress this season. Their losses have come from home games. This has also affected the crowd attendance at home. The team understands that they need to win matches at home for more fans to flock to the stadium.
Sunday’s game presents a chance for the Lions to get that elusive home win and start the charge of attracting spectators.
“I feel like the next two games are going to be critical for us, just to get that winning momentum back at home,” said Lions flanker Francke Horn when speaking to the media.
“It is disappointing (to not have won at home), we want to play good rugby for the fans and bring more people in to watch. That’s something that has been addressed. We will take it game by game, team by team but we want to start winning at home,” he said.
So how do the Lions get the win? One way they can go about it is upping the intensity and hoping the Dragons engine bursts in the highveld ultitude.
“Speeding up the game,” said winger Edwill van der Merwe on their planned strategy for the game.
“Most importantly, the gain lies in the carries, the forwards and backs getting over the gain line. That’s when you start getting momentum and can speed up the game.
“Firstly we want to win the physical battle. That’s our DNA as the Lions. So we have to bring that on the weekend and from there we can speed up the game,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Bulls will welcome Ospreys to Loftus Versfeld (3pm) on Saturday. The game will be the first for Ruan Nortjé as the team captain. He was announced on Thursday as the skipper, replacing the departed Marcell Coetzee.
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