Lions eager to take Perpignan lessons into Ospreys clash

The Lions will be looking to take the lessons learned in their Challenge Cup draw against Perpignan into their United Rugby Championship (URC) clash against Ospreys in Wales on Friday night.

The draw against Perpignan in France last week ended a disappointing Challenge Cup campaign for the Lions, as they finished fifth in their pool and thus didn’t qualify for the competition play-offs for the first time.

They will also have mixed feelings about the result against the French hosts, as a draw was not a bad result in the difficult conditions in which they played, but having taken a 20-10 lead with 15 minutes left, they wouldn’t be happy having allowed their opposition back in to level things up.

It will now be interesting to see if they can take those lessons into their URC game against Ospreys in Swansea, where they could face similar weather and playing conditions.

Played well

“As captain I feel we played really well according to the conditions. We had to obviously change the way we normally play at home, because of the rain, wind and the wetness that required us to play in a different way,” Lions skipper Franke Horn explained about the Perpignan experience.

“With the conditions like that you have to kick more, you have to rely on the set-piece and I think we were really exceptional there. We scrummed a lot of scrum penalties and scored two maul tries. That really kept us in the game.

“So the positives to come out of the game is that we have proven that we can play in that type of weather and we have a good enough pack to dominate the set-piece. Our half-backs were able to put us in the right areas of the field, and our good defence put them under pressure.

“Also, playing to the last whistle was important. Maybe one or two calls in that last period could have gone our way, in terms of a penalty in front of the posts. But besides that, I think the character shown and the way we adapted to the conditions really impressed me.”

Win important

The Lions are currently sitting seventh on the URC log, but considering how tightly things are bunched, they know that just one loss could see them slip down multiple places, and they will be eager not to go down against Ospreys.

There is also a notable gap between seventh on the log and the top six, so a win away in Wales will be important in their attempt to start bridging the gap on the competition pace setters.

With a huge URC derby against the Bulls back at home next weekend also coming up, the Lions will want to build some momentum with a strong performance.