Pieter Jordaan

Johannesburg – Saturday, February 13 2010. As long as the Lions are sharp enough to beat the Stormers on that day, they will not care about the outcome of their forthcoming friendly matches.

The Lions and Bulls will each field two teams to play one another in Polokwane on Saturday, but coaches Dick Muir (Lions) and Frans Ludeke (Bulls) have different priorities.

While Ludeke picked virtually his strongest team for the main game, Muir has divided his best players into two separate teams.

The Lions’ new director of coaching views it solely as a trial game and it is a make or break opportunity for a number of players to remain in his plans.

Ludeke has a much better idea of what is at his disposal and will see it as a game in which his players can shake the cobwebs.

However, the games are very important for Muir’s Lions players. They play the Stormers in two weeks’ time and Muir still has to think about a possible starting team.

Muir was at Newlands on Saturday to watch the Stormers thrash the Western Force 54-12.

“They really played well. I think they scored 22 points in the first 16 minutes,” he said.

“We expect nothing else than a tough team. They have made good acquisitions, have confidence and it appears they want to play at a high tempo,” said Muir.

His own team has realistic targets for the Super14, but Muir says they simply want to improve on a weekly basis.

“We have such a big training squad because we still hope to have fresh legs towards the latter part of the series.”

The Bulls are heavily favoured to beat the Lions in the main game on Saturday.