Ivan van Rooyen under no illusions as to the challenge awaiting the Lions

With three rounds left of the lengthy season, the Johannesburg franchise are in 11th place on a congested table. Just five log points separate sixth from 11th, meaning the Lions have every chance of sneaking into the top eight and the URC playoffs.

While the other South African franchises are blessed with Springboks aplenty, van Rooyen has worked wonders with his group of relative journeyman who continue to punch above their weight.

Now heading into the business end of the competition, the pressure is on. The Lions host Cardiff on 11 May then table-toppers Glasgow Warriors the week after. In the final round, they face a difficult trip to Cape Town to face the Stormers.

"We basically got to win all three probably," van Rooyen told rugby365.com.

"Eight or ten points could potentially sneak you in there. For us, it's three games left. Win all three and all we can control is us. If we do what we have to do here [at Elis Park] then that Stormers game could get really spicy."

Van Rooyen added that he hopes his charges take lessons from their recent clash against Munster. Coming off an emphatic 44-12 drumming of the indomitable Leinster the week before, the Lions were poor against Munster, slipping to a 13-33 loss on Saturday. 

"We've got to keep on showing the right picture of what we can expect in defence and attack from the opposition and then be more clinical from our side," he said.

"They [Munster] won the small and the big moments, so the team that dominates more tends to win those small battles.

"There are a lot of lessons and I know it doesn't sound nice, but we just have to be better. I don't think we were out-passioned or outplayed in terms of building phases, momentum and line-breaks. We just have to be clinical with the defensive breakdown and keeping our ball on attack."

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