Johannesburg – Johannesburg will again have Super Rugby in 2014 and the Golden Lions can breathe a sigh of relief.
Having spent this past season in the rugby wilderness, Johan Ackermann’s team snuck in through the back door on Saturday night. They lost by five points to the Southern Kings at Ellis Park (23-18), but the Lions won by seven points in the first leg (26-19) of the promotion-relegation tie, ensuring their place in next year’s Super Rugby competition by two points.
It was touch-and-go whether the Lions would spend a second successive year without Super Rugby. Jobs were on the line – among the administrators, players and coaching staff – and the financial future of the union was resting on Saturday’s result.
The Lions, though, drawing inspiration from the 50000-strong crowd who were desperate to see their team back in the big-time, hung on by a thread to deny the Kings in what was a scintillating, edge-of-the-seat encounter.
Ackermann’s men enjoyed an 18-9 lead with 12 minutes remaining, but the Kings, as they’ve done all year during their debut Super Rugby season, fought gallantly to run in two converted tries to edge into a 23-18 lead with five minutes to go. One more successful penalty by the Kings would have seen them retain their Super Rugby status, but it never came.
“We were on the right side of the result, 7-5 ... we won by two. It’s good for us, but it’s tough on the Kings. It could have gone either way. And, like I’ve so often said, there is nothing between the teams playing Super Rugby; the Kings drew with the Brumbies in Canberra earlier this year and that’s a team that had a chance of winning the title on Saturday,” said Ackermann.
He called the promotion to Super Rugby “special”, likening it to 2011’s victory in the Currie Cup final. “We lost tonight’s battle (Saturday), but we won the war. When you consider the pressure we were under over these last two weeks, this is really special.
“The players never sulked during the season, when we had to watch Super Rugby from our living rooms. They’re a special group who played for each other and that makes me proud.”
While the Lions can now start rebuilding their team for next year’s Super Rugby challenge, the Kings will go back to square one. Ackermann, like his opposite number Alan Solomons, said the promotion-relegation situation was not ideal.
“It’s tough on the team that loses out. Last year August it was us, now it’s the Kings ... we know what they’re going through. I feel the whole situation could have been dealt with in a better way. Maybe the Kings could have provided players to the other franchises and been pulled into Premier Division Currie Cup rugby before going straight into Super Rugby. Rugby in the Eastern Cape will now be put on hold.”
Ackermann will now be able to negotiate with several of his players, among them Elton Jantjies and Franco van der Merwe, as he looks to build a team for next year.
“Everything was put on ice until after these games, but now we can start talking about the future. We’ll sit down and look at where we can strengthen the squad, but we’ve got great talent here. We need to be competitive in the Currie Cup first and take things from there.”
Departing Lions captain JC Janse van Rensburg, who left for Bayonne in France last night to take up a two-year contract, said Saturday night’s defeat was the best of his career. “I’ll take it ... we’re back in Super Rugby and that’s all that matters. It required a big team effort, from everyone at the union, but we did it. The Lions will roar again in 2014.” – The Star