The Lions managed to secure a home Super Rugby semi-final for the third successive year after defeating the Jaguares 40-23 in Johannesburg last Saturday. This time the Lions will take on the Waratahs in this weekend’s semi-final showdown.
The Waratahs advanced to the final four after turning a 17-point deficit at halftime into a seven-point victory against the Highlanders last week.
Waratahs player, Sekope Kepu told the Sydney Morning Herald that the Waratahs forwards were frothing with excitement about the challenge of the Lions’ proud, heavyweight pack:
The Lions start as favourites against the Waratahs, who have never won a finals match away from home, and suffered a 29-0 loss to the South Africans in Sydney earlier this year.
However the Lions could be impacted by their inability to get over the line in the play-offs in recent years; they've lost two finals on the bounce - the Hurricanes and the Crusaders accounting for the men from Johannesburg in 2016 and 2017.
But that also means they are unbeaten in semi-finals in the last two years. Who will win on Saturday and claim a place in Super Rugby's final in August? We look at all the key factors of the Ellis Park clash...
Dangermen
The Waratahs are blessed with some of the best backs in world rugby, and they were all on full display in a 10-minute fightback in their quarter-final win over the Highlanders last week.
First Kurtley Beale set up Bernard Foley for a try, then the No 12 did the same for Folau, before Folau scythed through the defence for a second Foley try. A player who has been sensational for the Tahs all season, Taqele Naiyaravoro, was not at his influential best that day, but will no doubt cause headaches for the Lions' defence this weekend.
The Lions' dangermen are not quite as flashy, but devastating in other ways. Hooker Malcolm Marx has scored nine tries this season, the most by any forward in the competition, while flanker Kwagga Smith is a menace at the breakdown as well as the fringes of the ruck.
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