Sprint from the start, says Lions coach of new challenge

Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen needs little reminding of his team’s need to hit the deck running in the Challenge Cup this weekend.

They kick off a new chapter for the franchise with their inaugural match in the European competition against the Dragons at Ellis Park on Saturday. With only four matches before the teams go into the knockout stages they had better put their best foot forward from the get-go.

“It is a sprint within the bigger season,” noted Van Rooyen on Tuesday. “It’s only four games. Two home and two away.

“You need the result with a bonus point,” he said before suggesting a 20-point haul would be ideal from the first four matches. “Anything where you are 16, 14, 12 it becomes an arm wrestle, especially with points difference. You want to build a points difference if you can.”

He knows too well his team cannot afford to slip up at home in the way they did at the start of this season’s United Rugby Championship, noting the French and English teams “have unbelievable home records”.

The European clubs tend to take a pragmatic view of the fixture list in the way they set out their stall on match days. It is a discipline SA teams will need to master sooner rather than later.

“They will probably use the majority of the same team,” he said of the Dragons. “It will be interesting to see what Stade Français does next week, they are looking good in the French log.

“That brings a different dynamic for the South African teams, not being used to that kind of rotation. I think it is vital to get as many points as you can at home and get whatever you can away to see if you can get a home game in the round of 16.”

This weekend’s assignment sees them take on opponents they downed, albeit with a great deal of difficulty in November.

“We won the dogfight but we didn’t play well,” admitted Van Rooyen. “We are building some nice momentum but it is important for us to keep improving the small things that are working for us and fix the things hampering us from moving forward.

“The last two games at home have been a bit of a dogfight to get the result, but some nice growth in certain areas. It is a building, keep-on-growing mindset for us. We had a good and honest review after the Dragons game. It is different for the Dragons who are here for their third week,” he said about Saturday’s opponents.

Van Rooyen intimated lock Willem Alberts may be available for selection. “Willem is very close to selection. Jaco [Kriel] made a nice return after a long injury. We have no new injuries. We will use the next week or two to subtly rotate in key positions.”