Lions' tricky balancing act — they want to win Currie Cup, but need to build for URC
Lions coach Mziwakhe Nkosi and outside back Rabz Maxwane during a training session on Thursday ahead of their opening Currie Cup match against the Sharks at Ellis Park on Saturday. Picture: Lefty Shivambu/Gallo Images
The Lions have to try and pull off a tricky juggling act of going for glory in the Currie Cup, while also preparing their squad for the coming United Rugby Championship (URC) season over the coming two months.
Last year's runners-up will be kicking off their campaign with a replay of last year's final, as they host the defending champion Sharks at Ellis Park on Saturday afternoon (kick-off 3pm).
In a heartbreaking 2024 finale the Lions thought they had done enough to win the game as the clock went into the red, only for the Sharks to turn over the ball, earn a penalty and slot it to triumph in a thriller, and the Highveld side will have hopes of going one better this year.
But head coach Mziwakhe Nkosi admitted that they have a number of goals that they want to achieve, and preparing their larger squad for the URC is the biggest of the lot.
High expectations
'We have high expectations (for the Currie Cup) like every franchise. But we also have to tick the boxes that we are setting out to tick and reach the KPIs that we have set for ourselves,' explained Nkosi at a Lions training session on Thursday.
'So we have to try and go as deep as possible (in the competition), and we have to expose a whole lot of youngsters to first class rugby.
'We also have to try and sharpen up the guys that haven't had much game time so that by the time the URC starts we have built some depth, and we are not afraid to say that URC for us is the premier competition and we have to serve that.'
Nkosi explained that they have a number of different groups of players all coming together for the competition, and that it had been a challenge to get them all aligned.
'We have quite a mixed group. We have guys who didn't get much game time in the URC. So we have to expose them again and give them some game time. We have a big group of young guys, I think around 10 U21s,' said Nkosi.
'We have a few Junior Springboks who have come in from the Junior World Championship, and then we have one or two additions who haven't played rugby (for the Lions), like Angelo Davids, who we will see a couple of times in this Currie Cup.
'So it has been a challenge to try and get all of them together, but we are ready and going to give it our best shot.'
New format
This year's Currie Cup will also be played under a new format, which each team playing one round of pool fixtures before going straight into the knockouts.
This doesn't leave any room for mistakes and a fast start is needed, unlike in previous editions where the double round allowed for a slow start.
'The new format is challenging, it's not like in previous years. It's similar to a World Cup in the number of games that you play. So getting on the green as quickly as you possibly can is important,' said Nkosi.
'We want to have a good start. We have two home games (first up) so we must cash in and put money in the bank so to speak, around points and wins, before we travel for three away games. It is a short term competition, and we have to make sure that we are at the races early days.'
Nkosi is also well aware of the challenge that the Sharks will bring, and believes that his side will be well prepared for it.
'The Sharks are a good team. They are bringing some experienced guys into the match, so it is going to be tough. They have (coach) JP Petersen and his staff, who we meet on the circuit quite often, so we know what they are going to bring and hopefully we are ready for it.'
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