It may be very much a B-team taking on the Jaguares in Buenos Aires on Saturday, but it’s a Lions team that is full of confidence and on a hot winning streak.
Johan Ackermann has been criticised in many circles for opting to take a weakened side to Argentina for his team’s final regular season Super Rugby game, potentially giving up first position on the points table, to keep his first choice players fresh and fit for the quarter-finals next weekend.
If the Lions win against the Jaguares they will top the combined log and play at Ellis Park for as long as they stay in the competition; if they lose they will give up that privilege and possibly be asked to travel to New Zealand for a final.
Ackermann though is confident his new-look side, captained by scrumhalf Ross Cronje and including regular Super Rugby stars Howard Mnisi, Cyle Brink, Lourens Erasmus, Akker van der Merwe and Corne Fourie, can topple the Jaguares on their home patch and qualify as the top-ranked side.
And he’d be right because the team that will run out in Buenos Aires on Saturday is not to be underestimated.
In the ongoing Currie Cup qualifying competition, the Lions are on a four-match winning run, which includes victories against the Griquas (52-37), Leopards (64-28), Griffons (66-19) and most recently last Saturday, the Valke (75-14).
No less than 16 of the players who were part of that 11-try demolition of the Valke in Kempton Park are in the Lions squad for the Jaguares match.
Now add the likes of Cronje, Mnisi, Brink and the other Super Rugby regulars to the mix and the side picked by Ackermann is quite an outfit. It’s no surprise then that Ackermann confidently said ‘’these guys can beat the Jaguares”.
“They’ve trained well this week, look very motivated and are keen to show what they can do.
“I’ve got full confidence in them,” said the coach before he and his charges left South Africa yesterday.
Playing in Buenos Aires though, against a side that will be desperate to finish their debut season well, is quite different to running out against the likes of the Valke and Griffons.
And, the Jaguares may only have won three games in Super Rugby this year, but they’ve proved to be a handful on home turf.
It’s also worth noting those three wins have all come against South African opposition - against the Cheetahs (in Bloemfontein in round one, 34-33), the Kings (in Buenos Aires in round nine, 73-27) and the Bulls (in Buenos Aires in round 13, 29-11).
But while they’ve only won twice on familiar territory, they pushed the other sides close - the Chiefs (30-26), the Stormers (13-8) and the Sharks (25-22). The only time they’ve been well beaten at home this season was last week against the Highlanders (34-8).
The Jaguares have shown they’re no pushovers in front of their home fans so while the touring Lions team are high on confidence they’re certainly in for a bruising battle.
There’s little chance Ackermann’s men will come close to the 52-24 score they registered the last time the teams met, at Ellis Park on May 21. But then, Ackermann and Co aren’t interested in running in eight tries on this occasion ... a victory, by any margin, is all they’re after.