Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen is ensuring his charges are staying grounded in the wake of their dominant 54-17 demolition of Edinburgh at Ellis Park on Saturday.
The Johannesburg franchise ran in eight tries, many of them from deep within their own half, as they played brilliant running rugby with pace, power and offloads aplenty.
The Lions sit in seventh on the table, and two points behind Munster and three ahead of the Bulls. But van Rooyen is aware that with five matches left, the road to the playoffs is fraught with danger.
“We won’t get ahead of ourselves,” the coach told the press after the win.
“We won’t have a babalas – and I don’t mean it in the alcohol sense.
“Obviously, we’re proud of the big defensive effort. We knew that if we were going to be good in that department, they might give us one or two counter-attack or turnover attack options.
“It was nice to win the SA Shield in front of our fans, and we’ll take some nice pictures, but come Monday morning it’s back to work preparing for the Dragons.”
“The SA derbies are hugely competitive… this is a reward for the hard work put in by the players and coaching staff. We’re in a good place with our work ethic; you can only play as well as you train.”
Captain Franke Horn enjoyed the quality of the tries his team scored, crossing the line himself in the first half.
“We scored some unbelievable tries, but that comes from hard work,” he said.
“It’s about being there for each other. We have to keep building – the race for the top eight is tight.”
