Lions’ Bomb Squad target URC champs

Assistant coach Julian Redelinghuys says the front-row powerhouses at the Lions have been inspired by the Springboks in the buildup to a blockbuster clash against Munster.

The Lions host the defending champions in round 15 of the Vodacom URC at Ellis Park on Saturday. The Johannesburgers mauled log-leaders Leinster for the only victory by an SA team in the competition last week.

The win for Ivan van Rooyen’s men kept them within range of a possible quarter-final finish, still in 11th position with 39 points, and speaking in a Lions conference on Tuesday, Redelinghuys highlighted the impact of the bench and a formidable set-piece as a bedrock for the team’s success.

“I really believe the strength of the pack is the competition at this moment between the guys. We’ve got five great tightheads, and in the looseheads we’ve got Morgan [Naude], we’ve got JP [Smith]… these guys scrum against each other every week and really make each other better,” the former Springbok prop told reporters.

“All of us have watched Chasing the Sun 2 and that’s what you can see with the Boks as well. Their toughest scrum opposition is on Wednesdays, not on Saturdays.

“It’s lekker for us to say we can use our subs and impact players like a Bomb Squad and expect the same [quality] set-piece. And if they’re competing against, say, a second-string front row we should get more dominance.

PLUS: Van Heerden turning up the intensity

“And always when I look at the Springboks and their team selections I always use to see subtle rotations and for us, it’s what the game needs. There’s a lot of things to consider and obviously the scrum is a big part of it.”

Munster climbed to third on the overall standings last week after a gritty win over the Vodacom Bulls in Pretoria. The Irish province is unbeaten in their last eight matches against South African teams.

“From the Irish teams, if you can put a word like ‘tough’ on one of them, it’s them [Munster] and Connacht that are really tough teams,” Redelinghuys said.

“They’ve got that never-say-die attitude, and there’s a reason they won the URC last year; they played their quarter-final, semi-final and final away, and they managed to find a way to win. It speaks a lot to their way of play and their attitude, just the fight they have in them.

“Their coaches drive that really hard, which you can see, and in our view they are a really tough team and you can’t just think they’ll go lie down even though you’re ahead. Like against the Bulls, who started to get an upper hand but Munster never quit or threw the towel in, and kept fighting hard.”

Photo: @LionsRugbyCo/Twitter