No hard feelings as Lions aim to squeeze out every bit of departing Burger Odendaal's class

The Lions definitely aren't planning to sideline Burger Odendaal just because he's leaving Ellis Park when the current United Rugby Championship campaign concludes in mid-year.

A stalwart since moving to the team he played Craven Week for in 2020, the 28-year-old midfielder was unveiled as Wasps' latest signing on Tuesday, re-kindling a productive working relationship he had with John Mitchell, the English club's defence guru.

Odendaal was a key player at Loftus for the former Bulls director of rugby.

He will join a substantial contingent of South Africans in Coventry with prop Pieter Scholtz and the Springbok duo of Nizaam Carr and Francois Hougaard already on the books.

"Bomb Squad" stalwart Vincent Koch also arrives next season.

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Yet the Lions, conscious of his reputation as one of the most level-headed and dedicated players on the local circuit, are rightly confident that they can still expect him to help drive a potentially respectable end to the URC season.

"He's still very much part of us," said Ricardo Loubscher, the Lions' attack and skills coach, ahead of Friday's daunting visit to Leinster in Dublin.

"To lose a guy of Burger's quality is a blow. He's a really big loss for us and we'll miss him. But it's a great opportunity for him to just take his career a step further."

While Odendaal's authority is the obvious void that will need to be filled when he departs, his playing pedigree has soared this season.

Despite the Lions' reputation for being pleasing on the eye with their attacking play, the inside centre has almost been man-alone in providing his team with some punching power with ball in hand.

His 6 linebreaks, 37 successful carries