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Lions loose forward Siba Mahashe says the team are in a good space and are confident that they can bounce back from their difficult finish to the United Rugby Championship (URC) pool phase and stun defending champions Leinster in their quarterfinal clash in Dublin next week.
The Lions saw a six-game winning run in the competition decisively ended by Leinster in their pool match a few weeks ago, before also going down to Munster over the past weekend.
But before they went on tour the Lions had already done enough to secure their place in the competition’s playoffs for the first time, and they now have a great chance to try and pull off one of the biggest upsets in the URC’s history in the knockouts.
“The team is very disappointed that we lost the past two games, but we have put that behind us and put our full focus on the quarterfinal against Leinster,” said Mahashe.
“Despite the way we finished the pool stage, we are very happy to have qualified for the knockouts. It was our goal as a group to make the top eight this season and qualify for the first time, and we did it. So the team is thrilled to have achieved that goal.
“As a group we are very confident that we can bounce back from those two losses and win the quarterfinal. But before we focus on the outcome we need to focus on what we can control, and that is recovering and training well, and putting the team first.”
Irish preparation
The Lions have boosted their chances of causing an upset by staying in Ireland to prepare, and Mahashe admitted that the team was happy to prepare in the country, rather than return home and fly back again next week.
“We are all happy to be staying in Ireland ahead of the quarterfinal. It is better in terms of the body, with less traveling, and we are able to recover properly and fully get used to the conditions this side,” explained Mahashe.
It has been a whirlwind past six months for the young 22-year-old, who only made his senior Lions debut in January, but has since become an integral member of the side, playing 10 matches and starting their last eight games in the URC.
“I am very happy with the start of my senior career and it has been a dream come true. I am playing with some of my best mates and some of my role models. So it has been great,” said Mahashe.
