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Lions v Bulls
Coca-Cola Park Stadium, Johannesburg
The struggling Lions must be wondering what more they must do to get another win under their belt this season.
After beating the Cheetahs in the opening round, the Johannesburg-based franchise have lost five successive matches and are languishing at the bottom of the table with 10 points from six matches.
After that victory in the season opener, the Lions were competitive in their defeats to the Sharks, Hurricanes and Stormers but they were blown away by a superb first-half effort by the Cheetahs who beat them 26-5 last weekend.
They fought back bravely in the second half of that clash but after the Cheetahs raced to a 23-0 lead at half-time they were always struggling to get back in that game.
Coach John Mitchell believes the lack of experience amongst his troops is one of the major reasons for their poor start to the season.
"Unfortunately we have a group that has an average of 1.36 Super Rugby seasons per person," said Mitchell.
"We have 11 guys playing their first campaign, six playing their second and three guys playing their third. So, whether people like it or not, you have to be patient with this group because they are inexperienced."
These two teams have played each other on seven occasions and the Lions are yet to register a victory against the three-time champions who bounced back from their defeat to the Stormers two weeks ago with 32-30 win over the Crusaders last weekend.
Bulls coach Frans Ludeke knows his team will have to be at their best against the Lions and said his team would not underestimate their neighbours.
"The Lions never stop playing and the Cheetahs had to make more than 200 tackles against them last week as they kept on attacking until the final minute," said Ludeke.
"We will have to improve on the basics of the game, especially early on. We don't want to play catch up like we did against the Blues, Stormers and Crusaders, because of a bad start."
The teams:
Lions: 15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Deon van Rensburg, 13 Jaco Taute, 12 Alwyn Hollenbach, 11 James Kamana, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Tian Meyer, 8 Josh Strauss (c), 7 Derrick Minnie, 6 Cobus Grobbelaar, 5 Franco van der Merwe, 4 Stephan Greeff, 3 Pat Cilliers, 2 Callie Visagie, 1 Caylib Oosthuizen.
Replacements: 16 Martin Bezuidenhout, 17 CJ van der Linde / Jacobie Adriaanse, 18 Marius Coetzer, 19 Doppies le Roux, 20 Ross Cronjé, 21 Butch James, 22 Lionel Mapoe.
Bulls: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Pierre Spies (c), 7 Jacques Potgieter, 6 CJ Stander, 5 Wilhelm Steenkamp, 4 Flip van der Merwe, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 1 Dean Greyling.
Replacements: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Frik Kirsten, 18 Juandré Kruger, 19 Arno Botha, 20 Jano Vermaak, 21 Louis Fouché, 22 Johann Sadie.
http://www.planetrugby.com/story/0,25883,16024_7669118,00.html
Odds
Lions $1.20
Bulls $4.20
Coca-Cola Park Stadium, Johannesburg
The struggling Lions must be wondering what more they must do to get another win under their belt this season.
After beating the Cheetahs in the opening round, the Johannesburg-based franchise have lost five successive matches and are languishing at the bottom of the table with 10 points from six matches.
After that victory in the season opener, the Lions were competitive in their defeats to the Sharks, Hurricanes and Stormers but they were blown away by a superb first-half effort by the Cheetahs who beat them 26-5 last weekend.
They fought back bravely in the second half of that clash but after the Cheetahs raced to a 23-0 lead at half-time they were always struggling to get back in that game.
Coach John Mitchell believes the lack of experience amongst his troops is one of the major reasons for their poor start to the season.
"Unfortunately we have a group that has an average of 1.36 Super Rugby seasons per person," said Mitchell.
"We have 11 guys playing their first campaign, six playing their second and three guys playing their third. So, whether people like it or not, you have to be patient with this group because they are inexperienced."
These two teams have played each other on seven occasions and the Lions are yet to register a victory against the three-time champions who bounced back from their defeat to the Stormers two weeks ago with 32-30 win over the Crusaders last weekend.
Bulls coach Frans Ludeke knows his team will have to be at their best against the Lions and said his team would not underestimate their neighbours.
"The Lions never stop playing and the Cheetahs had to make more than 200 tackles against them last week as they kept on attacking until the final minute," said Ludeke.
"We will have to improve on the basics of the game, especially early on. We don't want to play catch up like we did against the Blues, Stormers and Crusaders, because of a bad start."
The teams:
Lions: 15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Deon van Rensburg, 13 Jaco Taute, 12 Alwyn Hollenbach, 11 James Kamana, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Tian Meyer, 8 Josh Strauss (c), 7 Derrick Minnie, 6 Cobus Grobbelaar, 5 Franco van der Merwe, 4 Stephan Greeff, 3 Pat Cilliers, 2 Callie Visagie, 1 Caylib Oosthuizen.
Replacements: 16 Martin Bezuidenhout, 17 CJ van der Linde / Jacobie Adriaanse, 18 Marius Coetzer, 19 Doppies le Roux, 20 Ross Cronjé, 21 Butch James, 22 Lionel Mapoe.
Bulls: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Pierre Spies (c), 7 Jacques Potgieter, 6 CJ Stander, 5 Wilhelm Steenkamp, 4 Flip van der Merwe, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 1 Dean Greyling.
Replacements: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Frik Kirsten, 18 Juandré Kruger, 19 Arno Botha, 20 Jano Vermaak, 21 Louis Fouché, 22 Johann Sadie.
http://www.planetrugby.com/story/0,25883,16024_7669118,00.html
Odds
Lions $1.20
Bulls $4.20
