Another quality 80-minute performance and the Lions will be in with a real chance of winning this year’s Super Rugby title.
That’s the message coach Johan Ackermann will deliver to his players before today’s eagerly awaited semi-final against the Otago Highlanders at Ellis Park (3pm).
With the final in Wellington, following the Hurricanes’ victory over the Chiefs, all that matters little right now - all the Lions want is a shot at the title.
But to have that chance they need first to get past the defending champions this afternoon.
It’s a match-up full of questions about both teams: Do the Lions have it in them to beat another New Zealand team after downing the Crusaders a week ago? How will they go without Warren Whiteley? Will they have forgotten their horror show last performance against the Highlanders in round three?
But regarding the visitors, the following: How will their crazy travelling of the past month affect them? Will they have enough energy in the legs to last the 80¯minutes at altitude?
One thing is certain, though: these are two teams who are at the top of their game and full of potential match-winners.
It promises to be a high-quality affair, with plenty of action.
The Lions will continue to play with the confidence they’ve shown all year, they’ll back their systems, their defensive lines and their attacking flair, and they’ll probably be fresher than the Highlanders. The decision by Ackermann to rest his front-line players for the trip to Argentina two weeks ago will surely give them the edge in the final 20 minutes.
That is when this clash is likely to be won and lost, as it was with the Lions against the Crusaders a week ago.
But altitude and the Highlanders’ hectic travel schedule in the past month - in which they have gone from Dunedin to Port Elizabeth to Buenos Aires to Dunedin to Canberra to Sydney to Joburg - will be a factor only if the game is not ‘dead’ by the last 20 minutes.
The Lions will want to make sure they get off to a good start as they did a week ago and not allow the visitors to dictate matters like they did when they last met in Dunedin in March.
They are two teams with similar styles, both having workmanlike packs with players who keep going and going, while the back divisions are full of running and flair.
Where the Highlanders edge their hosts is in the kicking department. Aaron Smith, Lima Sopoaga and Ben Smith are outstanding tactical kickers, and it’s something their opposite numbers will want to get right today as well.
One of the major reasons behind the Lions’ win last weekend was their game management - their decision-making about when to kick and when to run was spot-on - and against the Highlanders they will again need to be on the mark.
We’ve seen more than once this season that the team who kick more over 80 minutes often come out on top. The Lions won’t want to play too much rugby, especially in their half and in the early stages.
With Faf de Klerk and Elton Jantjies leading the way, the Lions need to be smart and make the right calls.
There’s no doubt Ackermann’s men are good enough to beat the Highlanders today - they have the players and the game to do that - but do they have the mental strength to lift themselves up after the energy they put into the Crusaders match?
That is the question, but then, they also know they are 80 good minutes away from a Super Rugby final.
And that should be motivation enough. – Saturday Star