Fidelity SecureDrive Lions head coach Ivan van Rooyen is thoroughly embracing the underdog tag and has urged his team to "make history" ahead of their United Rugby Championship (URC) quarter-final against Leinster on Saturday, 30 May 2026 at 21:00 (SA Time)
“No one’s giving us a chance, and sometimes it’s not a bad thing at all to take the underdog tag.”
Despite facing a powerhouse Irish squad at the Aviva Stadium, Van Rooyen remains fiercely optimistic about his young team's historic, first-ever URC play-off berth.
“We have massive expectations and genuine excitement for this quarter-final, and we see it as a golden opportunity for us as a group to take a major step forward and make history against what is effectively a Test outfit.”
Following Leinster’s heavy 41-19 loss to Bordeaux in the Champions Cup final, Van Rooyen expects a massive backlash.
“Ten to one Leinster will pick an even stronger, star-studded team for the quarter-final,” he added. “But we have big expectations and are massively excited for the challenge.”
Reflecting on their recent 31-7 loss to Leinster and 24-17 loss to Munster, Van Rooyen said that the Lions were highly competitive but let themselves down through critical lapses, defensive errors, and missed opportunities in the attacking zone. Still, the coach believes there was significant value in facing two elite Irish sides immediately before the play-offs.
“We are talking about quality opposition, tough conditions and quality teams,” Van Rooyen said. “That is definitely Leinster away, Munster away."
"Like I said, consistently just not good enough for us to capitalise on that, but there is also enough positives to really get excited about that opportunity. I think in both fixtures, there were some good glimpses of good physicality, momentum, quick ball at stages because they can put you under so much pressure in these conditions."
With several seasoned players out, the coaching staff is relying heavily on fearless, rising youngsters like flankers Siba Mahashe and Batho Hlekani. Van Rooyen mentioned they are challenging them to "learn quickly and adapt quickly" in a high-pressure knock-out environment.