The Lions, already renowned for their exciting brand of attacking rugby, plan to add a “refreshing” twist to the style that won them the Currie Cup in 2011.

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Coach John Mitchell, ahead of the side’s opening pre-season match against the Stormers at Newlands on Friday, made it clear his team is “hungry” for more success.

“That is gone now,” he said, adding: “The Currie Cup is gone, it’s finished and in the past – we start from afresh.”

He felt that once all that joy and celebration have been put to the side, the one thing is that they have grown their believe.

“We have to take that into a new beginning,” Mitchell said.

“I would be very surprised if we are still not hungry going into this campaign.

“Also, we have a long way to go to enhancing our brand domestically … so it is about exciting our fans in the southern hemisphere with a refreshing and exciting brand of football.

“We will fight as long as we can to win our conference,” he said, when pressed about the team’s goals for 2012.

The Lions’ New Zealand-born coach, who has taken them from no-hopers in 2010 to  champions a year later, also dismissed the notion that the gap between domestic rugby, the Currie Cup, and the international stage would be too much to breach.

“We are going into our fourth campaign as a group [two Currie Cup seasons and last year’s Super Rugby season],” Mitchell said.

“We have matured a lot since last year’s campaign, which was the first campaign for a lot of them.

“We have to earn that right, but as I said, I would be very surprised if we are not hungry  and I am sure we will be better.”