Lions target All Blacks standard

Lions captain Francke Horn wants his side to perform in the URC like they did against the All Blacks.

Still in pre-season, the Lions led New Zealand 35-17 early in the second half at Ellis Park last month before the visitors fought back to claim a 41-35 victory.

For Horn, the performance provided an indication of how the Lions want to play the new URC season, which begins against defending champions Leinster at Ellis Park on Saturday.

“We want our supporters to expect performances like the one against the All Blacks from us. After all, we expect that of ourselves,” the No 8 said.

“I wouldn’t say we set the standard there, but we gave a very good indication of our identity as a team and how we want to play this season.

“If that can attract supporters to Ellis Park and we can fill the stadium, it would be wonderful. The onus is on us as players to produce good performances week in and week out.”

The Lions will be looking to build on a breakthrough 2025-26 campaign in which they qualified for the URC playoffs for the first time and secured a place in the Investec Champions Cup.

Their season ended with a 59-10 quarter-final defeat to Leinster in Dublin, making Saturday’s rematch an immediate test of their progress.

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“We had a good four-week build-up after the match against the All Blacks,” said Horn.

“In that game, we could see whether the things we had worked on in pre-season were working. We could also see against the All Blacks what still needed some fine-tuning.

“I’m really excited about where we are as a team heading into the season. It’s going to be a big challenge against Leinster, but we’re really looking forward to it.”

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