Johannesburg - Things have not been great at the Doornfontein base of the Lions so far in 2022, and that might be under-selling the current mood at the union.
It should come as no surprise that the Lions have become something of an enigma.
Pundits and supporters frustratingly scratch their heads when trying to understand how a team that contested three Super Rugby finals has collapsed into a team that now takes 60-point beatings in the Currie Cup, and has yet to taste success in the United Rugby Championship (URC) this year.
The loss of senior players has played a huge part, but so too has the inability of the Lions to adapt and evolve in step with what is put before them.
It could be argued that by now, the URC and Currie Cup squads should have been folded back into one, if only to give the players playing in the domestic competition a better chance, while also servicing the match-fitness of the more senior members of the team.
The Lions have now gone nine matches without a win in all competitions, their most recent defeat an insufferable 66-14 Currie Cup thrashing by the Free State Cheetahs.
In the URC, since soundly beating the Stormers in December, head coach Ivan van Rooyen’s team have inexplicitly lost all momentum and have instead found themselves rebuilding confidence when they should be hitting their end-of-season straps.
In that period, they have lost to the Sharks and Stormers at Emirates Airline Park, to the Bulls, home and away, and suffered a narrow defeat to Leinster a fortnight ago.
The latter defeat seems to have lifted the spirits of the team somewhat. The 21-13 loss to the Irish outfit in Dublin was a heroic one, but a defeat nonetheless, and if the Lions are to harvest any due reward from that performance, then they must win Sunday’s home clash against Cardiff Rugby (kick-off 4pm).
They simply have no other choice.
That fixture starts their final eight matches in the URC, six of which are at home, and winning all of those should now be the Lions’ only priority. It is certainly not an insurmountable task, despite the Lions’ short-comings so far this year.
Cardiff have also not been consistent in this campaign – they come to the Highveld having suffered a 48-12 defeat to Ulster last weekend – but are also one of only two teams to have beaten tabletopping Leinster.
Johannesburg’s conditions will be a foreign experience, which they will have limited knowledge of and which, as backline, attack and skills coach Ricardo Loubscher hinted at this week, the Lions must take full advantage of.
They will also tour South Africa without the services of at least five of their Test veterans – Josh Navidi, Dillon Lewis, Seb Davies, Tomos Williams and Josh Adams.
The Lions are reportedly at fullstrength, barring a handful of longterm injuries, and have welcomed back several marquee players in recent weeks, including lock and line-out general Reinhard Nothnagel this week, which should improve the quality of that set-piece immediately.
Coupled with an impressive scrum that has at times dominated, the kicking games of Jordan Hendrikse and Tiaan Swanepoel, and the undeniable advantage of altitude, you’d expect that the Lions have the latitude to beat the visitors this weekend.
Indeed, if the Lions can hang onto the ball and turn the opposition around at every opportunity, there is no reason not to believe that they can run Cardiff, Munster, Ospreys and Edinburgh ragged in the four weekends to come, and then do the same to Connacht and Benneton in late April.
The Lions have talked about their steady improvement, so it is now time to put those words into actions.
Coach Van Rooyen selects his match-day 23 on Friday.
Possible Lions starting XV
15 Tiaan Swanepoel/Quan Horn; 14 Stean Pienaar, 13 Wandisile Simelane, 12 Burger Odendaal, 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Jordan Hendrikse, 9 Andre Warner, 8 Francke Horn, 7 Vincent Tshituka, 6 Jaco Kriel (capt), 5 Ruben Schoeman, 4 Reinhard Nothnagel, 3 Carlu Sadie, 2 Jaco Visagie, 1 Sti Sithole.
@FreemanZAR