The Lions have decided to stay in Ireland to prepare for their United Rugby Championship (URC) quarterfinal showdown against Leinster at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin next Saturday.
After securing their place in the URC playoffs for the first time over the past weekend, despite going down 24-17 to Munster in their final pool game in Limerick on Saturday, the Lions had to decide whether they would stay in the country or head back home to recover and prepare before traveling back to Ireland next week.
Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen said after the game on Saturday night that both options were on the table, but late on Sunday it was confirmed that they had decided to travel to Dublin where they will be based until the knockout match.
“Both options are still alive. We just need to assess the injuries and then make a good informed decision on whether we stay here and prepare or head home to recover before coming back,” explained Van Rooyen.
The most serious of the injuries he spoke of were to centre Henco van Wyk, who limped off late in the second half, and to Lions captain Francke Horn who was replaced in the first half of the match against Munster.
Van Rooyen, however, sounded hopeful about them possibly recovering in time for the quarterfinal, but he poured cold water on any return for Ruan Venter, who flew home after injuring his knee in their pool match a week earlier against Leinster.
Injury concerns
“Henco’s ankle is quite sore. Hopefully for him and for us it’s not too serious. Francke came off with a sore hamstring, but I probably took him off early enough so it’s not too bad,” said Van Rooyen.
“It doesn’t look good for Ruan, to be honest. It looks like quite a serious knee injury. He’s still seeing specialists and getting opinions, but it’s not looking too good.”
After a six-game winning run in the URC, the Lions ended the pool stage with two losses, against Leinster 31-7 in Dublin, and against Munster, and Van Rooyen admitted they have some things to sort out before the knockouts.
“I think initially we gave Munster too much quick ball and let them run onto us. We took too long to adjust there. But once we fixed it, we created opportunities ourselves,” said Van Rooyen.
“Probably our lineout attack and maul attack let us down a little bit tonight [Saturday]. We had opportunities to score one or two more tries and we just didn’t take them.”
With Leinster gearing up for a brutal Champions Cup final against Bordeaux Begles in Bilbao, Spain on Saturday, the Lions have the coming week to start their preparations, take the weekend off to rest, and next week get laser focused and finish their prep for the huge quarterfinal.
