Lions primed to stalk prey

The Lions are fully prepared for the challenge that the Stormers pose as the teams go headto-head in their United Rugby Championship clash at the Cape Town Stadium this afternoon (kick-off 5pm).

Both teams haven’t played for over a month after finishing their four-match overseas tour in mid-October.

Seeing their home fixtures against foreign opposition postponed, they are now both ready to battle it out in a re-scheduled derby match up.

Lions assistant coach Ricardo Loubscher believes the break in play came at the perfect time for the team and they are 100% ready mentally for this weekend’s game.

“The last three to four weeks has been brilliant for us, it was nice to get a sort of break and start from zero again.

“It was disappointing not to have a game last week, but if I look at the energy in the players this week there’s a buzz. The guys can’t wait to get out on the field and measure where we are as a team in terms of our growth,” said Loubscher.

The Lions have played the Stormers many times, with almost all their matches in Cape Town taking place at Newlands, however they now face a new challenge on a different pitch at the Cape Town Stadium.

“The conditions in that stadium are different so that might be a challenge for us. So the captain’s run will be all about assessing those conditions and readying ourselves for them,” added Loubscher.

The Lions will also be welcoming back a few players from injury, who were unavailable for their four-week tour at the start of the campaign.

This includes bollocking utility forward Willem Alberts (above) and young utility back Tiaan Swanepoel, who will both likely feature off the bench.

“We felt that with Tiaan having just come back from a long term injury it wasn’t right to slot him straight in, but we wanted him to be a part of the team,” explained Loubscher.