Johannesburg - Johan Ackermann’s message to his Lions players this week has been a simple one: Play the kind of rugby that’s brought you to this point and the result will take care of itself.
The Lions face the biggest test of their development under Ackermann when they come up against the Canterbury Crusaders in a Super Rugby quarter-final at Ellis Park on Saturday (4.30pm).
It is new territory for the Lions, who’ve never found themselves in this position, while the visitors have featured in 11 finals, winning seven of them.But while it appears to be a mountain the Lions must climb if they’re to advance to the semi-finals next weekend, it is actually the home team who have the edge.
Ackermann rested his entire “A” team for last week’s final regular season game against the Jaguares in Buenos Aires so the Lions that run out today will be fresh, fit, and injury-free.
They’re also playing in front of their home fans and have inspirational captain Warren Whiteley back to lead them after recovering far quicker than expected from a shoulder injury.
On top of that, the Crusaders have had to travel halfway around the world to be here for the match, and that, late in the week, while they were involved in a huge New Zealand derby last week against the Hurricanes.
That said, the visitors beat the Lions 43-37 the last time the teams met, in April, at Ellis Park in the regular season and they have shown their mettle in play-offs.
But Ackermann says if his players produce the kind of rugby that saw them top the try-scoring charts, with 71, and win 11 games out of 15 during the regular season, they’ll be in with a massive shout of progressing to the next knockout round.
“All I want the players to do is live up to the standards they’ve set this season, to play the rugby we’ve played all year,” said Ackermann ahead of the match.
“We need to be strong in our set-pieces and produce quality on attack and in defence.”We need to believe in ourselves and stick to the style we’ve adopted all year. There’s no reason to change anything.
“We’ve prepared well and now it’s up to the players to execute the plan.”
Ackermann adds the Lions team that’ll be in action later today is also more mature than the side that lost on April 1 and that should also benefit his team.
“We’ve certainly grown as a team since then. We learned from that loss, as well as the one against the Hurricanes, and many of the players have also gone through a pressure-filled Springbok Test series and they would have picked up a lot there, too, and hopefully they’ll reap the rewards of going through some tough experiences in the last three years.”
But Ackermann admits the pressure on him and his players has been ramped up a notch, especially because of last week’s defeat to the Jaguares.
“I know people will be disappointed if the result isn’t good. But if I look back to where we were at the beginning of 2014 and now, in the play-offs, having produced several Bok players and the general growth of the team, then there’s not that much more I can ask for.
“If I look at all those things then all I want this weekend is for the players to go out there and enjoy the occasion.
“I can ask for a big effort, for a passionate performance, and then we must let the result take care of itself.
“But yes, there’s pressure, we’re all human. There are the selections, the decisions we’ve made, the supporters are hungry for success; they have expectations.
“But also, we’ve done the hard work and now we must have trust and faith and enjoy the moment.”
They’re two great sides up against each other, full of quality players, many with match-winning potential, so this promises to be a thriller.
Have the Lions really grown up? We’ll know come 6.30 tonight.
Saturday Star