Cape Town — The Lions want to rectify their mishap of last weekend by ending the regular season of the United Rugby Championship (URC) with a bang.
After a disappointing defeat against Leinster, where they blew a healthy lead and lost 39-36, they are looking to make amends by finishing the regular season on a high with a victory over Zebre (kick-off 1pm) at Loftus Versfeld.
It will be their stalwart-flanker Jaco Kriel's final match in the Lions jersey and they want to make it an extra special performance to send off one of their best.
Then there's also the chance to improve on their log position of last season if they can get a victory over their Italian visitors.
"It's been a real up and down season but I think over the last two months we have shown improvement," Lions loose forward Francke Horn said.
"Unfortunately we won't make the play-offs but the vibe in the camp is still awesome. The chat was on what could've been the past weekend and the way we want to rectify things this weekend and finish the season off on a bang to make a statement for next season.
"I can't remember where we finished up last season, but we are definitely higher up this time around.
"Unluckily we are just missing out on the play-offs. But the biggest thing for us this weekend is not to prove a point, but to put a marker down to say 'listen, the Lions are here to play'. And we are coming next year."
The Lions started the season off quite well with three wins on tour. But as the season progressed, some matches just didn't go their way, while the team lost their way in others as they ended just short of making the URC play-offs for the first time.
The team also went through a lot of turmoil off the field but managed to keep the group of players together where they put in some noteworthy performances in the URC and Challenge Cup.
One of the biggest lessons they've learned this season is that very small margins, in the end, can cost or win you the game.
"In this competition, any team can win but it's the small margins and decisions you make at vital stages that can win or lose you the game.
"That's probably the biggest point we've taken out of this season. Because we had a lot of close calls this year and if we could've pulled that through, it could've been a different (scenario) sitting here."
IOL Sport