The Lions will be banking on the confidence they gained from their narrow 27-25 victory over the Cheetahs last Saturday in the quest to make it two wins on the trot this season against the Hurricanes.
The triumph over the Cheetahs was in no way convincing but the winning feeling will hold them in good stead ahead of the 'Canes clash.
The Hurricanes got their 2012 Super Rugby campaign off to a shaky start when they were uprooted 39-26 by the Stormers in Cape Town on Saturday.
The visitors received three yellow cards in the match and also played with 13 men for a couple of minutes.
If the 'Canes improve on their discipline, they might pose a serious threat to the Johannesburg-based side.
Their sluggish performance could offer the Lions some comfort but as captain Joshua Strauss observed, most of the teams dished up indifferent performances over the weekend.
"I think they [Hurricanes] started slow but they are a very good team," Strauss said. "Many of the teams struggled to switch on in the first week."
History favours the visitors with the Lions' last win over the Canes dating back to 2007 when they won 30-7 in Johannesburg.
"Like any other team, they will learn from their mistakes and come hard at us from the start," said Strauss.
"They started off slow and finished well, so I think we will have a very tough match on our hands."
The Lions were unimpressive against the Cheetahs and struggled particularly in the line-outs, which deprived them of one of the game's essential attacking platforms.
As a result, this facet of the Lions' game received special attention in training this week.
Lions coach John Mitchell said the Hurricanes would - despite their shortcomings - be a force to be reckoned with.
"They are going to have huge desire on the weekend and it is important that we out-will that desire because they weren't far away in that contest against the Stormers and they will take a lot of heart and positives from that," he said.
"I think it is going to be a good contest because both teams will be hungry."
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