With their season on the line, Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen said they will give it their all starting with a last-eight Challenge Cup clash with Scottish side Glasgow Warriors on Saturday.
The Lions is the first South African team to make it to the quarterfinals of the Challenge Cup. They thrashed Racing 92 by 51-28 under the lights at Ellis Park on Saturday. The performance was inspiring. They had to dig deep as they played the match with 14 men for an hour after their enforcer and line-out caller Emmanuel Tshituka got a red card.
Going up against a traditional French team that thrives on physicality and being a man short was always going to be a tough task but the Lions showed composure and big game temperament. Skipper Marius Louw scored two tries while Edwill van der Merwe, Rabz Maxwane, Ruan Venter, Gianni Lombard, and Sanele Nohamba all added five points. From his boot, Nohamba contributed 18 points with Andries Coetzee adding three from a penalty.
The turnout at the Doornfontein venue was rather disappointing, with just 2,894 spectators in the stands. One fan lamented the low attendance, saying “there’s a team from France but it’s empty”.
Van Rooyen believes that performances and results such as Saturday’s could prove to be a catalyst to more people going through the gates of Ellis Park.
“It’s special for all of us, it was a good win against Racing,” Van Rooyen told the media.
“After our warm-ups, I told the guys that results here will bring back people, and a game like this one should warrant a fair bit of supporters to come back and see this side,” he said.
On April 8 the Lions will take on Glasgow Warriors at the Scotstoun Stadium (8pm). In the back of their mind, they will think about two crucial United Rugby Championship matches against Leinster and Zebre at home.
The Lions’ season depends on these three games and Van Rooyen is calling on his charges to give it their all to keep their campaign alive.
“What’s nice about the playoff stages, and where we are at this stage of the season, is that we are going to play big European teams,” van Rooyen said.
“To get into a European competition and into a quarterfinal, it would be foolish of us to not take the strongest team possible.
“It’s three games. We know we are going to play Leinster and Zebre here and if we lose all three that’s the season. We need to do whatever we can to stay alive, it’s three tough weeks coming up with a fair bit of travelling, but as a group we are ready.”
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