All roads lead to Loftus Versfeld this Saturday as the Lions make the journey to the country’s capital for Round 6 of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship. The side from Jozi will take confidence going into this historic clash after successive victories in their last two appearances at Ellis Park, notably the toppling of Irish giants Ulster, who were unbeaten in the competition until that point.

Ivan van Rooyen’s men return refreshed and hungry after a nearly 4-week international break, but the Lions mentor is upbeat about his side’s preparation during the interval where hard work has been happening behind the scenes.

“We had a week off and then three weeks of hard work,” he said. “Some good work, some really hard work. Physical work, Lions identity work. We feel we really had an exceptional three weeks.”

Reflecting on previous seasons, ‘Cash’ believes the team is better prepared going into the second block of the tournament, and there’s no greater test than against the Vodacom Bulls at Loftus to kick-off the stanza.

“Last year, a large part of the group didn’t get a rest. This time, we feel a lot better prepared for the second block, which traditionally we haven’t been that strong in.”

“We spoke about it quite a bit. We need to be a lot more consistent in the second block. There’s travel, rotation, all the local derbies – we were open and honest about it, and we need to be better.”

Lions captain Francke Horn earlier this week spoke about the physical battle his men are expecting on Saturday, an aspect of the game which comes standard when these two giants clash. Furthermore, one can’t overlook the bragging rights for the title of Gauteng’s finest rugby outfit.

“I know both teams are hungry for the victory,” he said. “I don’t expect anything less than a big, physical set-piece battle.”

“We’ve come very close a few times at Loftus,” Horn said. “It’s bragging rights in terms of Gauteng. You get two chances, and you want to take them with both hands.”

In team news, Eduan Keyter and Kelly Mpeku occupy the left and right wings respectively. Loose-head prop Edward Davids is in line to make his international club debut for the Lions since arriving as a loan player from the Suzuki Griquas.

Kick off at Loftus is at 14:00

Lions 23 vs Vodacom Bulls

1.           SJ Kotze

2.           Franco Marais

3.           RF Schoeman

4.           Etienne Oosthuizen

5.           Reinhard Nothnagel

6.           Jarod Cairns

7.           Ruan Venter

8.           Francke Horn (c)

9.           Nico Steyn

10.         Chris Smith

11.         Eduan Keyter

12.         Bronson Mills

13.         Henco van Wyk

14.         Kelly Mpeku

15.         Quan Horn

Replacements

16.         Morne Brandon

17.         Edward Davids

18.         Conraad van Vuuren

19.         Darrien Landsberg

20.         Renzo du Plessis

21.         Sibabalo Qoma

22.         Haashim Pead

23.         Gianni Lombard