Emirates Lions welcome Stade Français Paris in Round 2 on Friday before travelling to Dragons in Round 3 in January, and van Rooyen is expecting wins in both those games to ensure qualification for the knockout stage.
He says his side’s success at Rodney Parade in the United Rugby Championship (URC) last season means they have nothing to fear when they make the trip to Wales.
“Without trying to sound arrogant, we will have to beat Stade Français, and then we will have to beat Dragons away,” he said.
“We have played against them (Dragons) there already, so it won’t be a new thing for us. We know what to expect there and we know what we are going to be doing there.”
Ricardo Laubscher, Emirates Lions Backline and Attack Coach and a former Assistant Coach at Stade Francais said “If you look at the Top 14 league, Stade Francias are well in the top four of the log, so we expect a very good side coming here on Friday night."
“Their kicking game is one designed to put teams under pressure, forcing one to make mistakes, so we’ll be prepared for that from a discipline point of view. Furthermore, they have a brilliant attacking game, good runners and a ten who is an outstanding goal-kicker coupled with a big boot. In saying that, we expect an exciting game from a team who can counter-attack from anywhere,” warns the former Bok assistant coach.
“Our preparations have been good this week, with most of it in wet weather as we expect similar conditions on Friday.
On Willem Alberts and Andre Warner, Ricardo Laubscher said “We are fortunate to have both Willem and Andre who have played for Stade Francais. Their input has been valuable during the week so we look forward to capitalizing on that intel,” he concluded.
