It has been over a year since the Lions beat a South African side in the URC, and forwards coach Albert van den Berg acknowledges it has reached the point of being a "mental block".
He donned a Springbok jersey on 43 occasions and his fearsome physique led to him being dubbed "The Bone Collector", but Willem Alberts is - by default - already skating on thin ice at Ellis Park.
Lions defence coach Jaque Fourie is starting to see green sprouts in terms of the team's marking, believing they're already "100% better" than last season.