‘SA derbies crucial for Lions,’ says scrum coach Redelinghuys ahead of Bulls battle

The Lions are targeting a good start to their local United Rugby Championship (URC) derbies to set them up well as they go into a difficult run of away games, followed by a tricky finish to the year.

Their first away game off the season will feel a bit like home as it is just a short hop across the Jukskei River to take on their closest rivals, the Bulls, at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday afternoon (kick-off 1:30pm), before they head off an a three game overseas tour.

The Lions first head to France, where they will play their first ever Champions Cup game against French giants La Rochelle, before heading to Scotland where they will take on Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh on successive weekends.

A month-long international break will then take place, as the Nations Championship games are concluded in Europe, before the Lions finish the year with a home derby against the Bulls, a massive second Champions Cup clash against Toulouse at Ellis Park, and an away derby against the Stormers over December.

Good form

It is thus important for the Lions to continue their good form and momentum, picked up from home wins over defending URC champs, Leinster, and Ospreys, and try and replicate their impressive win over the Bulls at Loftus last year.

“I think we’ve got a seven-game block now, which is three URC, one Champions Cup, and then two more URC and another Champions Cup. So this game sets up massively,” explained Lions scrum coach Julian Redelinghuys earlier this week.

“But I think in the URC we’ve learned now that all the games are really important. Obviously we want to start well with the (local) derbies, and we think the (SA) Shield is something that we were proud (winning) of last year, not to say we’re focusing on the Shield, but obviously for us, we need to have a good start against the SA teams.

“And now it’s strength versus strength. All the Springboks are available. So I think it’s going to be a good battle this weekend, and we definitely have a very important mindset on this.”

Arguably, the Lions’ biggest acquisition in the off season, Springbok loosehead prop Boan Venter, is set to play a crucial role in the expected scrum battle between the two sides, and Redelinghuys praised the new recruit, while highlighting the need to gain the upper hand at the set piece.

Top guy

“He’s a top guy. Having Boan now, he joined us during the All Blacks week, and he arrived here on the Friday before the Tuesday game. And the guys immediately clicked with him. So it says a lot about his attitude and personality, as he already clicked with all the boys,” said Redelinghuys.

“I think for him to be back (in SA after playing rugby in Scotland for five years), and he’s saying he’s playing rugby in Afrikaans again. So for him, he’s enjoying it, and you can see it. So the more he enjoys it, the rest of the boys enjoy it.

“Then he’s massive in the set piece. Obviously, for him, we feel his work-on is in the loose, and we’ve been seeing great progress there. So yeah, we’re excited to see where he’s going to be able to do for this team.”

Redelinghuys continued: “As South Africans, we love our set piece. It was easy when we played the Welsh or the Irish teams. Now it’s SA versus SA. Two proud scrummaging packs.

“But now the set piece is a massive part of our game. We want to use that as a platform to attack from. We want to use that as a platform to create moments from. But we are well aware that the Bulls bring a very different picture than what Ospreys and Leinster brought.”