Into the Golden Lions’ den

ONE SHUDDERS to think what might have happened had the Royal XV been lifted and energised by the support of a capacity home crowd in Rustenburg last Saturday.

As it was, the much anticipated opening to this Lions tour was played out in front of a sparse crowd of a few thousand, the majority of whom were supporting the tourists. From tonight onwards, when the Lions face their namesakes from Transvaal in front of 60,000 at Ellis Park, that situation will differ dramatically.

While there were anxious faces amongst the management throughout last Saturday’s opener the fact that the Lions clawed their way back from the potential disaster of an opening tour defeat will stand to the party as a whole. With just 15 minutes remaining on the clock, an embarrassing 12-point deficit was turned on its head scoring 24 unanswered points to register a victory that will look somewhat better on paper as this tour gathers momentum.