As the Lions jogged out onto the Johannesburg Stadium pitch on Tuesday, a degree of relief and optimism permeated through the team — both during the training session and their off-field duties thereafter.
The sun was out and a comforting humidity clung to the air. Moving in from the south, a head of thunderclouds had begun rolling in, teasing a good old-fashioned afternoon storm, their cotton-like bellows scattering the heat every so often.
One suspects the Bulls, some 60km up the road, have had similar feelings of comfort this week. Both teams, after all, have just returned from Europe, where they played in testing conditions. The Lions, especially, were lashed by rain in their games against Perpignan and, most recently, the Ospreys.
Both matches ended in hard-fought draws: the former a 20-20 affair that saw them knocked out of the EPCR Challenge Cup, while the latter was an equally drenched encounter that ended 24-24 in the United Rugby Championship (URC). The Bulls, meanwhile, ground out morale-boosting away victories against Edinburgh (19-16) in the URC and Pau (26-24) in the Champions Cup.
Those matches were characterised by impressive play upfront, leaving the backs in a defensive role with only scraps of attacking play. On Saturday at Ellis Park (2.30pm kick-off) in their URC return clash of the Jukskeu derby, however, that could well change as both teams seek to play a more expansive game in expectedly firm and hot conditions.
It is an enticing battleline of backs marching to the grand old stadium. The likes of the Lions’ Morné van den Berg, Chris Smith, Henco van Wyk, Bronson Mills, Richard Kriel, Angelo Davids and Quan Horn could potentially line up against Zak Burger, Handré Pollard, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Harold Vorster, Canan Moodie, Cheswill Jooste and Willie le Roux.
Lions No 10 Chris Smith is, one suspects, chomping at the bit to unleash his backline.
“In those conditions,” Smith said on Tuesday, referring to the European climate, “you play a different type of game. It’s more forward-orientated.
“The challenge is you want to get our forwards onto the front foot and play a massive territory game. You have to have a massive kicking game… There were massive lessons learnt.”
In recent weeks, Smith’s decision-making has come under scrutiny. There were moments, especially at the death of the Perpignan game, where the former Bulls pivot could have opted for a drop-goal to snatch a win. Instead, the Lions crashed forward to a valiant draw.
With lessons learnt, Smith explained how he will apply his mind to the upcoming clash against neighbours the Bulls.
“You are judging momentum,” Smith said.
“There is a lot that goes into it. I am hoping my outside backs are also feeding me a lot of information as to where the space is. That helps in executing the right plan, be that taking on a run or looking for kick-space.”
Regarding his possible upcoming battle against Springbok No 10 Pollard, Smith said: “It is awesome to go against Polly.
“He is one of the world’s best and he has been for a long time. It is an awesome challenge to look forward to.
“Their backline is filled with stars and guys that can ignite something from anywhere and anytime, so we are going to have to be at our best at all times if we want to match them. As a backs unit, all of us are looking for the opportunity to go up against them.”
In the previous clash between the two, the Lions stunned the Bulls 43-33 at Loftus Versfeld. Smith, who scored 13 points in that match with one penalty and five conversions, is hoping the Joburgers can emulate that performance.
“We moved the ball around quite nicely and our forwards were nice and dynamic,” Smith recalled of the November match.
“We really connected. On turnover ball, we capitalised and we were clinical at times.”
