Johan Ackermann has revealed the secret behind the Lions’ successful tour of Australasia which saw the team register three wins from four matches.
“There’s no baggage in this group of players,” said Ackermann yesterday, hours after the team arrived back in Johannesburg.
“Past Lions teams have battled on their overseas trip and there was a fear factor every time they went on tour, but not this group,” said the delighted coach.
“Derick Minnie is the oldest member of the squad at 28. The rest of the guys are young and don’t know the history. These guys simply enjoy touring, they like seeing the new places and everything is exciting for them. They just want to play rugby.
“There’s a real brotherhood and a unity I’ve not seen in a long time. They’ve grown together as a group in the last two years and they don’t fear the opposition. They don’t worry about who they’re going to be up against; names mean nothing to them.
“We didn’t always perform at our best and we were far from playing at 100percent of our potential, but the guys played with a lot of heart and they showed fight in every game.”
The Lions registered wins against the Blues (13-10) in Albany, the Rebels (20-16) in Melbourne and the Reds (18-17) in Brisbane. Their only defeat came against the Crusaders (34-6) in Christ-church. “We weren’t ourselves in that game,” said Ackermann .
The challenge now is to repeat their tour feats on home soil at Ellis Park in the coming weeks. And Ackermann admitted the pressure would now be on his players, as it was on the opposition in Australasia.
“All the pressure was on the other teams on tour. Against the Blues Keven Mealamu was celebrating a milestone and they were desperate to win for him. The Rebels hadn’t won at home yet this season, while the Reds were under pressure to win after a poor start.
“On top of that they welcomed back several star players and these guys felt the pressure to perform.
“Even against the Crusaders, a number of big-name players returned, like Kieran Read and a few others. We were never the team under pressure, but we will be now. There will be an expectation again for us to win and there’s no doubt the opposition will come hard at us knowing what we’ve achieved on tour. We’re going to have to work extremely hard and realise things aren’t just going to happen for us now that we’re on home soil.”
The high-riding Bulls visit Ellis Park this weekend and they’ll be followed by the Sharks. Ackermann said the two matches would be massive for all three teams. “We’re going into week eight and nine and for a lot of the guys it’s going to be tough.
“Lionel Mapoe, Franco Mostert and Warren Whiteley haven’t had a break yet so we’re going to have to manage them in the weeks head. It’s going to be very challenging for us, coming off a tough tour and having to get up for the Bulls and Sharks. They’re going to be massive in the context of the season ... if we can win both before our first bye we’ll be in a good position.
“Then we can have a good rest and freshen up and look to end strongly.”
Ackermann lauded the entire tour party for the effort they put in, singling out his assistants Swys de Bruin and JP Ferreira and the medical team. “I’m just so proud of everyone’s contribution, not only on the field, but off it, too. The players behaved themselves and showed dedication and the spirit never wavered. It was a hugely successful tour on a lot of fronts. We made a bit of history for the Lions franchise and I’m very proud of that.”
Ackermann said he’d scale down on training this week and has already cancelled two sessions . - The Star