Richard Kriel of Lions passes the ball as he looks to keep the feel good factor at ahead of facing Bulls. Shutterstock
The Pretoria team is full of bull, if you will pardon the cliché and the Lions are going to give them a good licking because they have the player ammunition to do so plus the winning momentum after last week proving the Stormers are no more than a storm in a team cup.
The Capetonians think they are strawberries and cream but result after result concludes that they are rotting rubbish.
I love the way the Lions are playing. Along with the Sharks and Cheetahs, they are the future of South African rugby and the pampered pros in the Cape and Pretoria are in for some sobering catch up.
Lions wing Richard Kriel, who will be up against his Bulls brother David, said that there is a feel-good factor in Johannesburg after breaking a four-game losing run in the URC.
“It was great to break that losing streak after a good performance against the Stormers. So hopefully we can carry that into this weekend,” said Kriel.
“We have had a good week of training considering the wet weather. We were hoping for some sunshine but it has rained the whole week. But none-the-less we have had some good prep.
“Both sides would have been prepping for the rain given the weather forecast, but we will see what happens on the day, I think both teams are up for it and it will be a good game.”
Last week the Bulls were embarrassed by a Sharks team that at one point was down to 12 players but the Bulls were too stupid to take advantage. Bulldust indeed baffles brains and the Lions will have too much grey matter for this herd.
Kriel said the Lions won’t be shy to take advantage of the Bulls.
“If the opportunity is there we will take it. We have a guy like Quan Horn, who is really good (in broken play) and I think even in wet weather he will have a few good runs and put us in good positions,” explained Kriel.
“But ultimately it comes down to game management. If you play in the right areas, and especially if it’s raining, your kicking game becomes so important to get your team into the right attacking areas of the field.
“We must have a good balance between running the ball and kicking it, and with our prep this week I think we are well organised.”
Kriel is returning from an injury and is eager to play well.
“It’s great to be back and what better way to have a comeback than against the Bulls. These are the games you want to play, the SA derbies, but it was good for me to just get a nice run out again and get my match fitness up a bit,” admitted Kriel.
“Our previous game against them was a disappointing performance from our side, but hopefully we can put in a better showing this weekend and take it from there.”
Bulls: 15 Devon Williams, 14 Sebastian de Klerk, 13 Stedman Gans, 12 David Kriel, 11 Canan Moodie, 10 Willie le Roux, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Mpilo Gumede, 7 Reinhardt Ludwig (captain), 6 Marco van Staden, 5 JF van Heerden, 4 Cobus Wiese, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp.
Replacements: 16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17 Alulutho Tshakweni, 18 Francois Klopper, 19 Ruan Vermaak, 20 Nizaam Carr, 21 Zak Burger, 22 Keagan Johannes, 23 Sergeal Petersen.
Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Richard Kriel, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Marius Louw, 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Gianni Lombard, 9 Morne van den Berg, 8 Francke Horn (captain), 7 Ruan Venter, 6 Jarod Cairns, 5 Darrien Landsberg, 4 Etienne Oosthuizen, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 PJ Botha, 1 Juan Schoeman
Replacements: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 Morgan Naude, 18 Conraad van Vuuren, 19 Ruan Delport, 20 Sibabalo Qoma, 21 Renzo du Plessis, 22 Nico Stein, 23 Manuel Rass.
Related Topics: