The Lions’ win over Connacht at the weekend may have eased some of the pressure that was building after a string of five consecutive defeats but the pall of negativity hanging over Ellis Park will only properly lift if they clinch a United Rugby Championship (URC) playoff spot and the qualification for the Champions Cup that goes with it.

We are coming to the end of the fourth season of the URC and the Lions have yet to finish in the top half of the 16-team competition. That represents failure for the franchise that was the most successful of the SA participants in the latter part of the Super Rugby era, with three successive appearances in the final in 2016-2018...

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