Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen expects a tough "emotional and physical" battle against a resurgent Bulls side, emphasising the need for the Lions to execute under pressure in their United Rugby Championship (URC) clash on Saturday at 14:30 (SA Time).
The coach stressed the importance of the game for the URC South African Shield, stating the conference is "wide open" and the Lions need to control their own destiny, starting with this match.
Van Rooyen highlighted several key areas and expectations ahead of the Jukskei derby at Ellis Park:
He noted that the Bulls will be "hurting" from their 43-33 loss to the Lions last November.
“Obviously, they’ll be hurting from the result at Loftus,” Van Rooyen said. “But they’ve got some superstars returning in Kurt-Lee Arendse and Marcell Coetzee, and mentally they’ll be a very different team after the two results they got overseas. We’ll have to rise to that emotional level and physical level,” he said.
Van Rooyen believes the match margins are tight and success will come down to which team "can execute under pressure on Saturday.”
“Of course, we’ve got plans, they’ve got plans- but I think the team that can execute under pressure on Saturday, and enforce their strengths more often during the 80 minutes will emerge successful,” van Rooyen added.
A central part of the Lions' approach will be "a little bit more accurate game management" to contain the Bulls' "big-moment players".