The Lions go into Saturday's home clash with Glasgow Warriors with a significant selection boost — Van den Berg and Ntlabakanye are both back, and JC Pretorius is fit after missing the Dragons win. More importantly, the piece argues that the Lions have correctly identified the breakdown as the tactical battleground that will decide the match. Glasgow's game is built on tempo and quick ruck ball, and disrupting that supply is the Lions' clearest path to an upset.
With Pretorius, Renzo du Plessis, and Siba Mahashe all available for the scavenging role, assistant coach Ricardo Loubscher is openly enthusiastic about the Lions' options at the breakdown — an area he believes gives them genuine leverage against a side that hammered them 42-0 in Glasgow last season. The piece frames this not just as a Lions redemption story but as a result that matters to all four South African franchises chasing top-eight spots. Glasgow, fresh off a Champions Cup loss to Toulon, arrive needing URC points badly — which makes Ellis Park on Saturday a genuinely high-stakes fixture.