It won’t matter who Leinster pick to face the Lions, the outcome must remain the same – the Joburgers have to beat the Irish giants, whether that be with a precious bonus-point victory, or through a famous, nerve-racking triumph.
Last year, Leo Cullen’s team travelled to Ellis Park with a squad made up of fringe players, overcoming an imploding Lions that led 36-21 with 20 minutes to go.
Tries by Rob Russell and Chris Cosgrave, and the unerring boot of Sam Prendergast in the final quarter, secured an impressive 39-36 comeback for the visitors.
Mystery surrounds who Leinster have brought to the country, and who they will pick for tomorrow’s clash at Ellis Park (3pm kick-off), except for a few salient facts.
The first is that Leinster have not yet secured top spot in the United Rugby Championship, and losing over the next two weeks could threaten their standings.
There are also concerns, according to the Irish Independent, over the fitness of Jimmy O’Brien (neck), Charles Ngatai (calf), Garry Ringrose (shoulder) and Ross Byrne (leg), who will arguably remain in Dublin to prepare for a Champions Cup semi-final against English club Northampton early next month.
Regardless of who Cullen picks, Lions assistant coach Barend Pieterse is aware that it will remain a monumental task.
“It doesn’t matter if they play a B or C team,” said Pieterse. “It will always be a good squad to play against.
“They are clinical in everything, and they have a great set piece. They have the majority of the Irish (Test) team within them.
“They are very calm in what they do and they can play with anything. If we really want to give ourselves a chance, our defence on the day will have to be amazing.
“Our set piece is an area where we will have to counter them. It remains a strong area for us.”
“They play a specific brand,” he continued.
“There is nothing new … it is just very good. I feel there are areas in their defence where we can exploit them, but we need a massive work rate on the day to do that.”
The biggest shortcoming of the Lions this season is perhaps a lack of consistency, which they will have to rectify over the next five games if they are to achieve play-off qualification – starting this weekend.
They started the season with one win from five games, followed by a five-match winning streak, then a four-game run of defeats, with the most recent results two wins and two losses across all competitions.
Joburg, we're grinding behind the scenes!🏉 🔥 Your support fuels our fire! Let's make some magic together on Saturday! 🎉
— Lions (@LionsRugbyCo) April 18, 2024
🆚 Leinster
🗓: Sat, 20 Apr
⏰: 15:00
🎟: https://t.co/yheM4D42xr
🏟 : Emirates Airline Park#LionsPride🦁 pic.twitter.com/0k5ppHMYW9
Midday tomorrow…we will even tell you the team!!!! 🤔🇿🇦#DarkArts #AreWeEvenHere https://t.co/3UQCDVZBy9
— Leinster Rugby (@leinsterrugby) April 18, 2024
It has made for a frustrating oscillation in fortunes, one that must be stamped out in the coming matches against tricky opposition, if the Lions wish to breach the top eight of the competition for the first time.
As noted by Pieterse, however, thinking ahead remains a double-edged sword.
“We play two or three matches very, very well, and then we have two or three very bad games,” Pieterse mused, regarding their inconsistent form. “That happened on this tour as well.
“Our focus is purely on Leinster, winning the game and to work on our consistency.
“If we start thinking about Munster (who they face next weekend), I think that will be a difficult thing. (Consistency) remains one of our biggest work-ons, which we have to get right as a coaching team and as a squad.”
While Leinster’s match 23 remains an enigma, the Lions will surely play their first-choice XV for the match and in the coming weeks.
In other news…
— Leinster Rugby (@leinsterrugby) April 18, 2024
We had our first on-field session in 🇿🇦 today. And that was nice.
😂😂😂
⏰ | Team goes live at midday tomorrow 🤔 #FromTheGroundUp pic.twitter.com/HC4CmwwvTi
Probable Lions Team
15 Quan Horn, 14 Richard Kriel, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Marius Louw, 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Sanele Nohamba, 9 Morné van den Berg, 8 Francke Horn, 7 Emmanuel Tshituka, 6 JC Pretorius, 5 Reinhard Nothnagel, 4 Willem Alberts, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 PJ Botha, 1 JP Smith.