Lions face a tougher test

Lions v Crusaders
Sky Sports 3 red button, 3.30pm

This quarter-final is rated the closest contest by bookmakers and the Lions are seen as the team most likely to prevent an all-New Zealand semi-final line-up.

The Lions and Stormers are the only teams whose regular-season points tally compares with those of the Kiwi sides, and the Johannesburg outfit could have finished top of the table had they not put out a second string for their final fixture against the Jaguares.

The Crusaders won 43-37 when the teams met in Joburg in April – indeed, they have won all four matches played on foreign soil in this campaign – and while the Lions have recorded an identical number of wins, their fixture list has been kinder.