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Lions looking for improvement

Cape Town - Lions coach John Mitchell says they are still well below their best level as they prepare to take on the Blue Bulls at Coca-Cola Park on Saturday afternoon.

The Lions are well clear at the top of the Currie Cup standings with 42 log points, while the Bulls are languishing in sixth position on 24 points and need a win to keep their playoff hopes alive.

But despite their handy log position, Mitchell believes his team can be a lot better.

"This team can still improve a lot. We admit it. This team is honest (with itself) and knows it should improve.

"Ultimately, you need to patiently improve on your performances if you want to be the best in the series.

"We can't control the situation we're in, but we can focus on our next match," Mitchell told the Beeld newspaper.

On the contrary, their opponents - the Blue Bulls - have had a tough season but have shown an upward curve in their last two games. They drew with the Free State Cheetahs in Bloemfontein and then defeated their old rivals, Western Province, at Loftus Versfeld last week.

Their coach, Pine Pienaar, has stressed the importance of keeping the momentum gained over the last two weeks.

"We can't look to other teams to do us a favour. We have to take charge ourselves and beat the Lions - because only then will we remain in control of our own destiny.

The Bulls received a late setback on Friday when Bok-flank Dewald Potgieter withdrew due to an ankle injury. He is replaced by Warwick Tecklenburg.

The match kicks-off at 15h00.

Teams:

Golden Lions:
15 Jaco Taute, 14 Deon van Rensburg, 13 Doppies la Grange, 12 Alwyn Hollenbach, 11 Michael Killian, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Michael Bondesio, 8 Joshua Strauss (captain), 7 Derick Minnie, 6 Cobus Grobbelaar, 5 Franco van der Merwe, 4 Michael Rhodes, 3 Patric Cilliers, 2 Bandise Maku, 1 JC Janse van Rensburg

Substitutes: 16 Martin Bezuidenhout, 17 Jacobie Adriaanse, 18 David Bulbring, 19 Warren Whiteley, 20 Rudy Paige, 21 Burton Francis, 22 James Kamana

Blue Bulls:

15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Bjorn Basson, 13 Wynand Olivier, 12 Francois Venter, 11 Gerhard van den Heever, 10 Louis Fouché, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Jacques Potgieter, 6 Warwick Tecklenburg, 5 Juandre Kruger, 4 Flip van der Merwe, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Gary Botha (captain), 1 Dean Greyling

Substitutes: 16 Willie Wepener, 17 Rossouw de Klerk, 18 Gerrit-Jan van Velze, 19 Arno Botha, 20 Dustin Jinka, 21 Francois Brummer/Marnitz Boshoff, 22 Jurgen Visser
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