Lions captain Francke Horn was a chuffed man on Sunday after his team secured the South African Shield thanks to their United Rugby Championship (URC) derby win over the Stormers on Saturday.
The Lions clinched a solid 24-10 win over their Cape challengers, and then watched as their Highveld rivals, the Bulls, did them a favour by thrashing the Sharks 41-12 at Loftus, which ensured that no one could catch them, with just the Bulls versus Stormers game at Loftus in two weeks’ time remaining of the local derbies.
In all, the Lions won four of their six SA derbies, to finish on 19 points, with the Sharks on 16 with three wins and three losses, while the Bulls and Stormers have two wins and three losses each, but are on 12 and nine points respectively.
Significant trophy
The Shield win is the first significant trophy for the Lions in many years, but Horn said that it was just a launch pad for them as they target their main goal of reaching the URC playoffs for the first time.
“Winning the SA Shield is a really big moment for us as a team. The group is really happy about what we have achieved,” said Horn.
“But this is only a stepping stone for us this season. It is big to know that we are the best SA team (in games played against each other), this season.
“This is my first serious piece of silverware since being at the Lions since 2019. So it is definitely something big, and it was something that we spoke about at the beginning of the season, and said we wanted to achieve.
“So doing that is massive for us as a team, but we know it is only half of the job done. We still want to make the URC playoffs this season, and we are in a good position now to really push over the last six games to stay in the top eight.”
The Lions got their Shield hunt off to a good start with a 43-33 win at Loftus in November last year, but then slipped to a 24-17 loss against the Stormers in Cape Town in December.
In January they snuck a last gasp 23-22 win over the Sharks in Durban, but were then thrashed 52-17 by the Bulls at Ellis Park.
They thus needed to win their final two derbies at home, and they did that by beating the Sharks 34-22 last weekend, and followed it up with the win against the Stormers.
Confidence booster
“It is a great confidence booster for the team. In previous seasons we have won one or two SA derbies and this season we have won four. We also came very close against the Stormers (in Cape Town), and had one uncharacteristic performance against the Bulls at home,” explained Horn.
“That was something that we wanted to rectify as a team and I think we have done that quite well over the last two weeks, with two SA derby wins and nine points from them.”
The Lions now turn their attention to their last six pool games in the URC, four at home against Edinburgh, Dragons, Glasgow Warriors and Connacht respectively, before heading on the road for two away matches against Leinster and Munster.
“Winning local derbies is always important. You’re playing against your own countrymen and that gives us a lot of confidence and belief going into our next four matches at home,” said Horn.
“It’s a really crucial run and it is also a great opportunity for us to keep building on the momentum and keep striving towards the perfect game.
“We want to try and climb the leaderboard before our final two (pool) games overseas against Leinster and Munster, which will be tough. But if we can build some momentum over the next four games anything can happen.”
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