Joburg team hoping to finish their four-match URC tour on a high
The Lions during a training session at Johannesburg Stadium earlier this year. Captain Burger Odendaal, in the centre, is hoping they can finish their four-match URC tour on a high in Belfast.The Lions have resigned themselves to the last clash of their four-match United Rugby Championship tour being their most demanding.
To that end they, in their own minds at least, have elevated the significance of the game. “We don’t look at this as the last game, we will see it as a final. It’s a game in which we have to get a result. The guys will be up for this and hopefully we can pull through before heading home.” In Ulster he has observed a side that plays the percentages, especially in the way they treat territory. They almost exclusively launch only from their opponents’ half.
“EW had a good game last weekend. We felt it is the Right thing to do. Fred trained with us only from Monday. A lot of detail has changed the past four, five weeks. It would have been throwing Fred in the deep end,” said Van Rooyen. There was no room in the match-day squad for prop Jannie du Plessis despite a solid performance last week. “Jannie laid a good foundation. Ulster, in the last 30, 40 minutes play a high-tempo game. This is just rotation. Also, it will be invaluable for Ase [Asenathi Ntlabakanye] to get experience at Kingspan,” explained Van Rooyen.
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