Johannesburg – On many Saturdays over the last five months Johan Ackermann has sat on his couch and wondered to himself how his Lions team would do in the Super Rugby competition. That question will, to some degree, be answered in Port Elizabeth this evening.
The Southern Kings may not be the Bulls, Crusaders or Chiefs, but the competition newcomers showed over the course of the season they are good enough to play in Super Rugby and they will provide a stern test for Ackermann’s men when the teams meet in the first of two promotion-relegation matches.
Ackermann said the last few months, when the Lions played a string of friendly matches, had been only about getting the team ready and up to speed for the Kings matches.
“Credit to all the players and my management team, they never once sulked about our position and remained positive throughout the time we were out of Super Rugby.
“However, it wasn’t nice watching the competition on television. I kept asking myself, ‘How would we have fared?’ I knew the group I was working with was playing good rugby and we went on to win the Vodacom Cup, so there were many ‘what ifs’.”
So while the Lions were taking on weak opposition in friendly encounters, the Kings were involved in the tough-as-teak Super Rugby showpiece, battling it out against the best of the southern hemisphere.
And it is just this that is the question on everyone’s lips: Are the Lions fresh and hungry, or have they been brought down to a level that is not on a par with what the Kings have been through in the last five months?
We all know more or less what the Kings will produce this evening – strong defence and a concerted effort up front for the full 80 minutes – but no one quite knows what the Lions will bring to this all-important game.
Yes, they won five games in a row to bag the Vodacom Cup and they beat Griquas and Western Province, among other sides, in the last month, but are they really battle-hardened?
There isn’t much between the teams, with both having to make do without key men tonight.
The Kings are minus experienced leaders Luke Watson and Andries Strauss and the Lions are without Jaco Taute, Lionel Mapoe, Callie Visagie, Alwyn Hollenbach and Andries Coetzee.
But they do have Franco van der Merwe and Elton Jantjies back in the side after their loan spells with the Sharks and Stormers respectively and Jantjies’ boot, and especially his goal-kicking, will be crucial if the Lions want to have a say in PE.
The somewhat out-of-sorts Jantjies faces a massive mental test after disappointing in Cape Town this year, while his opposite number Demetri Catrakilis has been sensational for the Kings and he’ll again be the key man at the back for his team.
Ackermann singled out Catrakilis for special praise this week. “The Kings are a good side… they’re sound up front and they defend extremely well and with Demetri at 10 you know you can’t give away penalties.”
Lions captain JC Janse van Rensburg probably summed it up best where the first leg game of this vital tie would be won and lost. “This match is all about mentality. We know what’s at stake and what our goal is. And at the end of the day it’s not only about us as players, it’s also about the thousands of fans out there.
“Joburg needs top-flight rugby and we hope we can bring it back.”
It’s a two-legged contest, with the second match at Ellis Park next Saturday, but Ackermann, as well as the rest of South Africa, will know by 9pm tonight who the favourites are to play Super Rugby next year and who will be fighting for survival.
TEAMS
Kings: SP Marais, Marcello Sampson, Ronnie Cooke, Shane Gates, Hadleigh Parkes, Demetri Catrakilis, Shaun Venter, Jacques Engelbrecht, Wimpies van der Walt, Cornell du Preez, David Bulbring, Darron Nell (capt), Kevin Buys, Bandise Maku, Schalk Ferreira. Replacements: Charl du Plessis, Hannes Franklin, Steven Sykes, Devin Oosthuizen, Nicholas Vergallo, George Whitehead, Waylon Murray
Lions: Ruan Combrinck, Deon van Rensburg, Stokkies Hanekom, Dylan Des Fountain, Anthony Volmink, Elton Jantjies, Michael Bondesio, Warren Whiteley, Derick Minnie, Jaco Kriel, Franco van der Merwe, Hendrik Roodt, Julian Redelinghuys, Martin Bezuidenhout, JC Janse van Rensburg (capt). Replacements: Robbie Coetzee, Ruan Dreyer, Willie Britz, Warwick Tecklenburg, Ross Cronje, Marnitz Boshoff, Chrysander Botha – The Star