Winger Edwill van der Merwe aims to catch the Glasgow Warriors napping on Saturday, yet Lions coach Julian Redelinghuys expects a real test from the Vodacom URC leaders.
The Lions host the Scottish outfit in round 17 of the competition at Ellis Park. With two rounds of the regular season remaining, Ivan van Rooyen’s charges are in 10th place on the standings, while Glasgow lead the race to final eight in top spot.
The Johannesburgers scored two tries in the last 10 minutes against Cardiff last week to seal a bonus-point victory against the Welsh visitors to keep alive their URC playoff hopes.
Glasgow fell short with a second-half comeback as the Vodacom Bulls won 40-34 in Pretoria, and speaking in a Lions conference on Tuesday, Redelinghuys acknowledged the fighting spirit of Franco Smith’s troops.
“They’re a well-coached team and are top of the log; best in the tackling stats, best in defensive stats so we’re not taking the game lightly at all,” the assistant coach told reporters.
“From our side, if you rely on the altitude to win a game for you, you’re going to make a mistake. Glasgow didn’t go lay down in the last 20 minutes [against the Bulls], they actually made a step up.
“The questions we have are: are they going to stick to their DNA, or try and do what Munster and Cardiff did, which is kick the ball and not want to play too much.
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“Their DNA is actually playing the ball and running it a lot, so we’re keen to see what they’re going to bring to the party.
“My opinion is they’re going to want to build momentum [towards the playoffs], they’re touring with their full-strength squad and will pick their best team this weekend.”
Van der Merwe, meanwhile, can’t wait to get his hands on the ball this week. The speedster has scored five tries from 16 starts in all competitions this season, and is part of an exciting back three with the elusive Richard Kriel and fullback Quan Horn.
“We’re fighting for a playoff spot and last week’s result put us in a good place. But this week is a new challenge that we have to face from zero-zero,” he said.
“If you look at the kind of tries we score it’s off what we call ‘java opportunities’, where opponents make mistakes, and it’s something we really work on to finish those opportunities.
“Richard and Quan are really exciting players and I really enjoy playing with them, we gel really well as a back three. I’m looking forward to this weekend and getting the ball in my hands.
“When we do create opportunities, because we do create a lot of line-breaks, sometimes we don’t always finish or the last pass doesn’t stick.
“It’s basically having that patience when you have line-breaks and exciting plays to create something out of nothing.”
Photo: Lee Warren/Gallo Images
The post Lions hungry to rip into Warriors appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Winger Edwill van der Merwe aims to catch the Glasgow Warriors napping on Saturday, yet Lions coach Julian Redelinghuys expects a real test from the Vodacom URC leaders.
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