Leinster stands between the Lions and an unbeaten European tour in the United Rugby Championship (URC).
Coincidentally, after Saturday's clash in Dublin, one of the two sides will likely be the only team left in the competition without a loss. After two grinding wins away from home – after starting the URC like a house on fire with two good wins at Ellis Park – the Lions find themselves in unknown territory with the early success.
Marius Louw's flighted pass helps Edwill van der Merwe take off 🚀#BKTURC #URC | #ZEBvLIO pic.twitter.com/J3CzfRlLFf
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While the trip to the Aviva Stadium is daunting, their last two performances should give the Johannesburg side enough confidence to close out tight games.
A five-minute stanza of sold defending clinched the 10-9 win over Zebre Parma in terrible weather conditions in Italy and it's that type of dogged tackling that could be vital in Ireland.
“Apart from the ball being wet, the field was quite soggy and when you want to play an evasive or momentum kind of game, it is difficult.”
“Apart from the ball being wet, the field was quite soggy and when you want to play an evasive or momentum kind of game, it is difficult,” Lions head coach Ivan van Rooyen said about the conditions. “Obviously, it was ugly but we will take the four points.”
Without dwelling too much on their third consecutive victory, Van Rooyen said they will enjoy the win over Zebre before focusing on Leinster from today.
He is hopeful there will be an improvement in his team's play, but also the weather ahead of Saturday's clash. After four seasons of taking on an understrength side, they could be facing a full-strength Leinster for the first time and that is something that excites the Lions.
“I'm assuming we will play the real Leinster ‘A’ team.”
“It is important to hold on to those things that are working for us, keep on working on the small things we can fix to become more consistent. It's going to be an exciting clash, and probably the first time I'm assuming we will play the real Leinster ‘A’ team.
“We know how proud they are up there. It's a big opportunity and a lot of focus (this week) will go into what we need to do there.”
Lions captain and Player of the Match Francke Horne said the five-minute defensive set and their discipline towards the end was crucial against Zebre.
Round 5 is a wrap... 🎬
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But they had to be patient to recognise when an error would come to capitalise on it and when the Zebre winger was solo on the touchline, they held him up and carried him into touch to end the game.
“I am really happy with the character the guys are showing. Everyone is calm and composed, knowing what they must do and that makes it easy for a captain to lead them in the right direction.
“An ugly win is a lot better than a loss. I am really happy and grateful for a lot of core leaders next to me, assisting with decisions. It's two from two (on tour) and we are really looking forward to next week."