Lions target grand URC heist in final act and bank on Ellis Park to revive Top 8 hopes

Forget Oceans’ 11 … what the Lions need now is Francke’s XV to put a crew together, plan plans within plans, burgle every point at every opportunity, and spring a surprise in the final act of the campaign, if they hope to break into the post-season of the United Rugby Championship (URC) in May.

Dwelling in 14th place in the URC standings on 30 points, and having returned from a tough tour of Britain that saw them lose three games on the trot, the Lions now find themselves living out a heist storyline for the remainder of the regular season. Four games lie ahead, all at Ellis Park and starting with Benetton on Saturday (kick-off 1.45pm), followed by a Connacht clash a week later.

In mid-May, the final two rounds will see the Joburgers host Scarlets and Ospreys. All of these teams are within touching distance of the Lions on the log, waiting to be leapfrogged.

For the Lions to have any chance of progressing to the play-offs of the tournament, they will have to win all of those matches, and perhaps do so with a full bag of 20 points.

It calls for big moments and a near-perfect run-in to what has been a maddeningly inconsistent season, which has seen the team deliver both moments of brilliance and spells of mediocrity.

Captain Francke Horn revealed at training on Thursday, ahead of the Benetton clash, that they will be aiming to achieve the former, putting away any doubts the latter may have created in recent weeks, after they lost to Cardiff (20–17), Glasgow (42–0) and Edinburgh (24–12).

“The tour wasn’t up to our standards,” said Horn, “and we’ve had a hard look at ourselves. We’ve had a really successful campaign so far at home and we are looking to continue that for the next four games.

“There isn’t any guy here that doesn’t believe that we cannot make the play-offs. We will give everything that we have.”

Horn’s belief in their prowess at home is not unfounded. Across all competitions, the Lions have lost only one of the seven matches they have played in Doornfontein this season. That loss was against the Bulls, which is also the lowest number of points the Lions have scored at the famous old ground in a 35–22 defeat.

In every other game, they have compiled 30-plus tallies on the scoreboard, the two most impressive outings in that regard being a 55–21 demolition of Edinburgh and a 60–10 whipping of Dragons. Arguably, their most impressive performance of their URC campaign was also at home, when they blitzed the Sharks 38–14 earlier this year.

If they can put their feelings of disappointment behind them and play angst-free rugby in the coming month, there is no reason not to believe they can make it 11 victories at home this season. Top 8 ambitions could then only come into play.

“We’ve made it tougher for ourselves at home,” Horn said, while discussing the health of the team’s mental space moving forward. “An extra three points (from the recent tour) would have meant a lot in a congested log.

“We’ve been straightforward about it. Training on Thursday, you could feel the excitement and energy.

“If we are in our shell and we are going to be stressed about it, we are not going to achieve what we need to,” Horn added. “We’ve got nothing to lose. We have to break the shackles and play the Lions’ style of rugby.”

Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen will name his matchday 23 later on Friday, but it will see some key personnel changes, especially in the backline.

Henco van Wyk remains unavailable, and it seems likely that Marius Louw and Rynhardt Jonker will combine at centre. Kade Wolhuter was running as first-choice fly-half during Thursday’s training, with Edwill van der Merwe and Tapiwa Mafura occupying the wings.

Up front, a determined and physical approach is expected. moreso demanded, with a similar look to the recent games overseas. Currie Cup Player of 2024, Renzo du Plessis, is expected to join a highly mobile loose-forward unit — one that will endeavour to stretch an international-laden Benetton out wide.