After making a strong start to the competition, the Lions are now set face their toughest test yet against the only other unbeaten team in the URC competition, Leinster, on Saturday.
Kick off is at 18:15 SA time.
Looking ahead to the clash, Lions assistant coach Ricardo Loubscher said: “They like to put you under scoreboard pressure, so the important thing for us is to start well. You also can’t go into this match with the mindset of just keeping them out defensively.
“They’re good enough to score tries from everywhere.The important thing for us is to fire shots. We must go out and force our game onto them from an attack point of view.”
YOU CAN FOLLOW THE LIONS’ LIVE SCORING IN THIS MASSIVE URC MATCH BELOW:
Leinster: 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Andrew Osborne, 13 Hugh Cooney, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 James Lowe, 10 Sam Prendergast, 9 Luke McGrath, 8 Caelan Doris (captain), 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Max Deegan, 5 Ryan Baird, 4 RG Snyman, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Gus McCarthy, 1 Michael Milne.
Replacements: 16 Stephen Smyth, 17 Andrew Porter, 18 Thomas Clarkson, 19 Brian Deeny, 20 James Culhane, 21 Cormac Foley, 22 Ross Byrne, 23 Charlie Tector.
Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Richard Kriel, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Rynhardt Jonker, 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Kade Wolhuter, 9 Morné van den Berg, 8 Francke Horn (captain), 7 Jarod Cairns, 6 JC Pretorius, 5 Reinhard Nothnagel, 4 Ruben Schoeman, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 PJ Botha, 1 Juan Schoeman.
Replacements: 16 Franco Marais, 17 Heiko Pohlmann, 18 RF Schoeman, 19 Ruan Delport, 20 Renzo du Plessis, 21 Sanele Nohamba, 22 Marius Louw, 23 Erich Cronje.
Referee: Craig Evans (Wales)
Assistant referees: Peter Martin (Ireland), Stuart Gaffikin (Ireland)
TMO: Aled Griffiths (Wales)
With home ground advantage and a flawless run of five bonus-point wins to their name in as many matches, Leinster will enter the clash as favourites, but the Lions will feel that they will have everything to gain as they look to create the biggest upset in the competition this season.
Given the close margins between the teams on attack and defence, it could prove to be a gripping encounter, as Leinster have only scored 38 points more than the Lions in their five matches to the Lions’ four, while the hosts have conceded only five points fewer.
In fact, it was the visitors’ phenomenal defensive display that saw them sneak through for their fourth win in competition against Zebre Parma last week in atrocious conditions – a factor that will motivate them to emulate that display against Leinster.
The sides have met on three previous occasions in the tournament with Leinster having the slight edge with two wins to one, however, the Johannesburg-based side have won three of their last four matches against Irish provinces.
WHAT IS YOUR SCORE PREDICTION?
Let us know by clicking on the comment tab below this Sharks and Kolisi related article or by emailing info@thesouthafrican.com or sending a WhatsApp to 060 011 0211.
You can also follow @TheSAnews on X and The South African on Facebook for the latest news and views.
