United Rugby Championship-winning coach Franco Smith has sung the praises of the Lions and said he hopes they can continue their good run of form and feature in the URC quarter-finals for the first time.
Smith, who was also Springbok assistant coach in 2016 and 2017, guided the Glasgow Warriors to URC glory two seasons ago. He is highly regarded in the game, with his Glasgow team currently top of the URC points table.
But the Lions, under the guidance of Ivan van Rooyen, are enjoying their best URC campaign yet and find themselves in fourth place on the log, with three regular season games remaining. And they beat Smith’s Glasgow side 54-12 at Ellis Park on Saturday to announce themselves as a team to be taken seriously over the next few weeks.
Smith was full of praise for their performance on Saturday.
‘Well-coached, well-drilled’
“Well done to the Lions. They used their time away from rugby so well (while other teams were involved in the Champions and Challenge Cup competitions),” said Smith.
“They looked so fresh and quick. They’re a well-coached side, well-drilled as well. They came with a good plan … they put us under pressure and asked questions. Fantastic.”
Smith suggested the Lions had the best mix of players to be successful in a competition such as the URC.
“What makes the Lions so good is the fact they’ve got Springbok-like players who aren’t Springboks.
“These types of players are the most valuable players … they’re the guys who are good enough to be Springboks but aren’t Springboks. They make the difference at club level.”
Quality players
Smith mentioned the likes of captain Francke Horn fitting this profile.
“Francke is playing good rugby at the moment,” he said. “Then there’s also Morné (van den Berg) at the base of the scrum, and one or two players in the forwards who maybe don’t fit the size bill, but play quality rugby. They’re good athletes, who get around the park, and the brand suits them.
“The Lions are a good team at home (at Ellis Park), they play so well there. I hope for them, they’re a tough nut.”
With three rounds remaining before the knockout games get underway Glasgow are top with 55 points, followed by the Stormers (51), Leinster (51), Lions (48), Ulster (47), Munster (46), Cardiff (46) and Bulls (45).
In ninth place are Connacht with 44 points, and 10th are Ospreys (34), who’re likely out of the running to make the last eight, with all the other teams behind them.
Connacht, who beat the Stormers in Cape Town on Saturday, are next up for the Lions this weekend and then Van Rooyen’s team travel to Ireland to take on Leinster and Munster in their final two matches.
