Lions won't underestimate Edinburgh, says skipper Odendaal

Some excellent results at home have seen the Lions as one of the form teams in the United Rugby Championship (URC) over the last month.

Ivan van Rooyen's charges have won three out of three since a close loss to Leinster away from home at the end of February and will be hoping to grab another victory when they face Edinburgh on Saturday at Ellis Park.

URC Log

While they are currently in the 13th spot on the URC log, a win will move them further into play-off contention and certainly give them the belief in their game plan. 

Lions captain Burger Odendaal, however, acknowledged that facing Edinburgh won't be easy.

The Scottish side became the first team to win a URC fixture in South Africa when they downed the Sharks 21-5 in torrential rain in Durban on Saturday and currently sit in the fifth position on the log. 

Not only will they be on a high after that, but the side will be bolstered by the return of a few internationals from Six Nations duty. 

"There is a reason why Edinburgh are high on the log," said Odendaal when asked about the Lions' next opponents. 

"They have a good kicking and attacking game. This week we will see the likes of Pierre Schoeman and Jaco van der Walt coming back from Six Nations duty," he added.

Odendaal expects Edinburgh to have more of an inside track of what awaits them at Ellis Park, thanks to Van der Walt's return as he played for the Lions between 2015 and 2017. 

"Jaco is a former Lion, and he knows the stadium and the players well, so they will have had a good briefing of what to expect."

The Lions' excellent home form has been built on stout defence pillars and brilliant counter-attacking play, which Odendaal gave assistant coaches Jacques Fourie and Ricardo Loubscher credit for.

"On defence, you