Lions assistant coach Julian Redelinghuys says former Edinburgh prop Boan Venter has provided valuable input on Friday night’s conditions and the opposition.
Venter joined the Pride in July after six seasons in Scotland. The 28-year-old Springbok linked up with Edinburgh from the Cheetahs in 2021, making 94 appearances before returning to the Republic.
“He’s got some interesting insights – from knowing the players well, the coaches, the field, the environment and the weather well,” Redelinghuys told reporters on Tuesday ahead of the round-four URC clash at Hive Stadium.
“Ja, he’s got some good opinions, which is helping us in our prep.
“One comment he made is we’ll maybe be playing the first half and come out after half-time, the weather’s totally different.
“With the Edinburgh-Stormers game [in round two], we saw that the wind was pumping in the first half and in the second half it died down.”
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Friday’s encounter will be the Lions’ first on artificial turf this season, although Redelinghuys noted 4G surfaces usually benefit Ivan van Rooyen’s men.
“We try to train on it in the weeks that we play on it, even though the guys will say that you need to manage the load because it is tough on the tendons,” he added.
“A guy like Boan, who’s played there, has some good insights as to what works and what doesn’t.
“I see there is a lot of speculation in the media, guys are saying they need to do away with these fields. It is interesting.
“But for us, it’s a small part of our season that we play on these fields so we don’t have a strong opinion. It is normally a bit faster so the way we want to play, it suits us to a certain extent.”
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The Lions arrived in Scotland after losing 31-14 at La Rochelle on their Investec Champions Cup debut, sitting seventh on the log before a week’s break in the URC.
Redelinghuys stressed the need to take points from Edinburgh and the Glasgow Warriors next week without setting a specific target, as the Lions try to refocus following Hyron Andrews’ death.
“It’s tough circumstances to get that focus, but I’ve been really proud of the boys. When it’s boots on, it’s switch on … be really connected, and do the job at hand.”
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Photo: Manuel Blondeau/Inpho
The post Boan got his opinions on Edinburgh appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Lions assistant coach Julian Redelinghuys says former Edinburgh prop Boan Venter has provided valuable input on Friday night’s conditions and the opposition.
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