The Lions are hoping that Saturday’s victory over Glasgow Warriors will be a turning point in their United Rugby Championship (URC) campaign as they make a late challenge to reach this year’s play-offs.
That was the word from the Johannesburg-based outfit’s number eight Francke Horn after they sealed a deserved 35-24 win over the Warriors at Emirates Airline Park.
“I really hope so and believe so (that this could be a turning point),” he told the Citizen. “This result gives us a bit of belief back and most of our games are back at home. It is great to have all the fans here. Thank you for coming out.”
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The result ended a five-match losing streak in the URC for the Lions and Horn was one of their star performers against Glasgow. The 23-year-old made his return to action after a lengthy spell on the sidelines through injury and hit the ground running as he walked off with the official man-of-the-match award.
“It’s awesome to be back. It was quite a tough few months watching the guys play and not getting the results,” he said after the match. “So being back on the park and being able to contribute again was amazing.
“I love this team. We work really hard. To have two yellow cards and a red card in the match and still pull it through, I am so proud of the guys and it was a great team effort.
“Most of the second half we played with 14 or 13 men and the guys just never gave up. We played our hearts out. Earlier this week we came together and decided that we were going to play for each other and I think we showed that on the field.”
Took their chances
Lions captain Marius Louw echoed Horn’s sentiments and expressed his delight at the way they converted their points-scoring opportunities after their inability to do that led to their downfall in their previous fixture against the Sharks.
“Last weekend was tough for us with the performance that we had and not executing,” he said. “With the opportunities we created last week we knew what we could do, we just had to believe and execute and this week we were a lot better at taking those opportunities instead of missing them.
“This was bound to happen for us. Over time the wheel has been turning and that’s how this team is, so a result like this is not unexpected and I believe we can build on what we have done today going forward.
“We just need to take it day by day. We work extremely hard behind the scenes. First thing now is recovery, celebrate the win and then start again on Monday.
“We have the Bulls next weekend. A tough game at Loftus, they have had some great turnouts in the crowd, so we have to be prepared for that.”