Top Irish crew Leinster will go to Ellis Park for the first time this weekend and so they can anticipate a chilly reception from their hosts, the Lions.
The United Rugby Championship leaders tackle the Lions at 4pm on Saturday in a penultimate spherical match earlier than going through the Bulls in their ultimate league sport at Loftus Versfeld subsequent week.
Leinster are unbeaten this season and can high the log no matter their subsequent two outcomes. But, the Lions want to win on Saturday and probably subsequent weekend, too, towards Zebre, to qualify in the high eight for a spot in the quarter-finals.
Altitude issue
And Lions captain Marius Louw is hoping Leinster, who hail from Dublin, will discover the going robust at Ellis Park in Joburg, which is 1,753 metres above sea stage.
“When I was at the Sharks (in Durban) I played up at Ellis Park multiple times and I never got used to it,” mentioned Louw, referring to the altitude issue.
“I do know Leinster are knowledgeable crew and so they delight themselves on their work price and so they received’t ever surrender, however we do need to use it (Ellis Park and the altitude issue) in our favour.
“They haven’t been here before and we want to throw whatever we can at them.”
Louw elaborated about the form of punches his crew would have to throw to get the higher of the Irish aspect.
“It’s the areas we can control … we pride ourselves on a strong set-piece, winning the breakdowns, getting quick ball and slowing down their ball,” mentioned Louw.
“We will try to beat them in all aspects of the game; it’s nothing special. It’s about being in as many battles as you can be and eventually you’ll come out on top.”
Positives
The Lions will likely be assured about their probabilities as Leinster have despatched a reasonably weakened and younger squad on tour, whereas Ivan van Rooyen’s crew have had an honest run of late.
Before taking place to Glasgow Warriors in the Challenge Cup quarter-finals in Scotland final weekend, the Lions beat Benetton and the Bulls away and in addition bought the higher of Glasgow at residence in URC motion.
“There have been a lot of positives,” mentioned Louw. “We can simply do what we will as finest we will for so long as we will … after which see how issues go.
“We’ve got two URC games left and we’ll take them one at a time.”
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