Lions rugby coach Barend Pieterse says his team is hard at work preparing for their clash in the United Rugby Championship this weekend. 

Pieterse said there are no after-effects of their narrow loss to the Sharks in the dying minutes of the Currie Cup final. However, it is a challenge to switch so quickly from a domestic to an international competition.

“It’s always going to be a tough mental block for the guys, especially after that game and how it finished, but we haven’t been in that situation yet where you play a Currie Cup final on the weekend and then you have to prepare for the first week of URC,” he said.

We're back in action! ?? Head to Emirates Airline Park to catch our Juniors take on the Hollywoodbets Sharks.#LionsPride?? pic.twitter.com/UnfnXZIjxW

— Lions (@LionsRugbyCo) September 25, 2024

However, Pieterse says the attitude of the team is nothing but positive. “We gave them off on Monday and did all the planning and Tuesday when they came in everyone – the guys that played and the guys that are new to the group – showed no bad vibes or mental issues.”

The Lions kick off their URC campaign on Saturday (28/9) at 13:00 in Johannesburg against Ulster and will have another home game the week after against Edinburgh.

Meanwhile, Lions loose forward Francke Horn said the team is excited and ready for their first URC match. 

We’re kicking off the season in full force at Emirates Airline Park this Saturday! ???? Join us as we take on Ulster in our season opener.
?? @UlsterRugby
??: Sat, 28 Sept
?: 12H55
??: https://t.co/QpxzaiqFWU
?? : Emirates Airline Park
??: @URCOfficial_RSA@vodacom #URC |… pic.twitter.com/DKvPV3QRnq

— Lions (@LionsRugbyCo) September 25, 2024

Horn said the team gained a lot of momentum thanks to their excellent Currie Cup campaign and is looking forward to carrying that momentum into the URC and taking another step forward as a unit.

“We want to start the campaign on a really good note, especially at home. Last week there were a lot of fans and we hope to see a lot of fans again on Saturday,” he said.

The Lions narrowly missed the play-offs in the URC in last season’s competition, ending in ninth place on the table, with the same number of points as Ospreys but with a bigger points difference.

OFM Sport/Ilse Smalberger cg/mc/mvh