Johannesburg - Golden Lions coach Johan Ackermann says their 62-23 demolition of the Blue Bulls over the weekend evened out the Currie Cup log and kept his side in the running.
"At least it brought the log back... and there are positions up for grabs," Ackermann said ahead of their Round 4 match against Western Province at Ellis Park on Friday.
Kick-off is at 19:10.
"Whereas, if we'd lost and stayed on one point, it would have made it more difficult."
However, Ackermann warned, they were not out of the woods yet and they could ill afford to take their foot off the gas.
"One or two games (losses) and the whole thing can change again," he said.
"It is a small relief but there is still a lot of work to do."
The Lions would face a tough challenge against the log-leading Capetonians, who came away with a draw in the first round followed by two one-point victories.
The Johannesburg-based side had shown encouraging signs of improvement and could easily have won their first two matches had they converted their opportunities.
Teams:
Golden Lions:
15 Marnitz Boshoff, 14 Deon Helberg, 13 Robert de Bruyn, 12 Dylan Des Fountain, 11 Anthony Volmink, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Guy Cronje, 8 Lambert Groenewald, 7 Derick Minnie (captain), 6 Warwick Tecklenburg, 5 Franco van der Merwe, 4 Willie Britz, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 Willie Wepener, 1 CJ van der Linde
Substitutes: 16. Robbie Coetzee, 17. Jacques van Rooyen, 18. Hugo Kloppers, 19. JJ Breedt, 20. Jaco Kriel, 21. Tian Meyer, 22. Andries Coetzee
Western Province:
TBA