The Lions welcome local rivals the Vodacom Bulls on Saturday, but it is the visitors who feel most at home at Ellis Park.
The Pretoria-based side has won all four Vodacom URC matches between the teams at Joburg’s rugby cathedral.
To make matters worse for Lions fans, they haven’t even been close – the narrowest margin coming last season when the Bulls won 35-22. The visitors have outscored the home side by 125 points to 57 over the four matches.
The Bulls have seemingly turned a corner this season following a horror run of defeats and will arrive at Ellis Park with momentum and renewed belief.
MORE: Lions brace for resurgent Bulls
The Lions, on the other hand, have had to digest back-to-back draws against Perpignan and Ospreys in the EPCR Champions Cup and URC respectively and will be desperate to get one over the line.
The Lions sit seventh on the URC log, while the Bulls have jumped from 11th to ninth on the standings after an impressive win over Edinburgh on Friday night and sit just four points behind Ivan van Rooyen’s team.
The Bulls will also have banked the bitter memory of the last time these sides met in the URC when the Lions triumphed 43-33 at Loftus.
URC SA SHIELD: Too close to call
Lions vs Bulls in URC at Ellis Park
2021-22: Lions 10 Bulls 34
2022-23: Lions 15 Bulls 31
2023-24: Lions 10 Bulls 25
2024-25: Lions 22 Bulls 35
Relive the two most recent clashes between the teams at Ellis Park:
LIONS 22 BULLS 35
25 January 2025
Round 10, 2024-25 season
This is the closest the Lions have come to the Bulls on the scoreboard in their four URC encounters at Ellis Park. The game will also be remembered as the one where The Sheriff, Elrigh Louw, suffered a season-ending knee injury.
The Lions did well to claw their way back from 10-0 down to lead by a point at the break, but a powerful second-half surge saw the Bulls emerge with yet another comfortably victory in Joburg.
Centre David Kriel was the hero for the Bulls as he landed two second-half conversions and penalty to go with his first-half try for a match haul of 12 points.
The Bulls’ bench proved decisive as the visitors ran in three tries after the break.
Coach Jake White’s men had dominated the opening exchanges and built a 10-point lead through the Kriel try and a conversion and penalty from flyhalf Boeta Chamberlain. However, the Pretoria-based side lost Louw and lock Ruan Nortje to injury.
The Lions hit back through a try by centre Henco van Wyk and two penalties by flyhalf Sam Francis for a slender half-time lead.
But in the second half, the Bulls – with replacements Willie le Roux, Canan Moodie and Akker van der Merwe to the fore – took control of the match. Tireless flank Marcell Coetzee crossed the whitewash, with further tries from lock Cobus Wiese and Van der Merwe sealing a convincing win in the end.
The Lions could only manage an Etienne Oosthuizen try and two more Francis penalties in response.
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LIONS 10 BULLS 25
17 February 2024
Round 10, 2023-24 season
The Bulls delivered a composed 25-10 bonus-point win over the Lions in this round 10 encounter.
The visitors struck first through Springbok wing Canan Moodie, who finished smartly after 20 minutes following strong scrum work by prop Gerhard Steenekamp and sharp vision from scrumhalf Embrose Papier.
Despite dominating territory and possession for long spells, the Bulls went into the break with only a slender 5-3 lead after a series of handling errors blunted their momentum.
The Lions had opened the scoring through a Sanele Nohamba penalty, but the flyhalf missed two further attempts, including one early in the second half that struck the uprights. The hosts were also denied a try when winger Richard Kriel’s effort was ruled out by the TMO for a forward pass.
The match swung decisively after the interval as the Bulls’ bench had the desired impact. Replacement hooker Akker van der Merwe wasted little time in powering over from a maul, while replacement flank Marcell Coetzee added a third after sustained pressure.
Centre David Kriel sealed the bonus point with a superb chip-and-chase finish in the closing minutes.
The Lions’ only try came late through fullback Quan Horn, but the Bulls’ control and defensive discipline ensured a deserved and ultimately comfortable derby victory.
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Photo: Christiaan Kotze/Gallo Images
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