I hate missing out, but guys must go and win it – Warren

NOT being able to lead his team, his Lions, at home in the Super Rugby playoffs is something Warren Whiteley tries not to think about. It hurts too much.

“I dread even thinking about it,” said the regular Lions skipper yesterday. “It’s very difficult (missing out), it’s tough. Being involved with this team at this stage of the competition and considering what is on the line in the coming weeks is everything I dreamed of.”

Whiteley will miss the entire knockout rounds of the 2017 Super Rugby competition – and potentially being the captain of a Super Rugby winning team – after being ruled out of rugby for some time with a pelvis ligament injury. He also missed out on leading the Springboks at his home ground in June in the third Test against France, having picked up the injury in the week before the match.

The Lions have a wonderful chance of going all the way and becoming the second South African franchise to lift the trophy after the Bulls, who have won the competition three times.

After finishing top of the log, having suffered just one defeat in 15 outings, Johan Ackermann’s men will play at home, in front of their own fans, for as long as they stay in the competition.

This weekend, the Lions have a quarter-final clash against the Sharks, a team they beat 27-10 last weekend and also edged 34-29 earlier in the competition.

It really is déjà vu for Whiteley. Last June in the third Test against Ireland in Port Elizabeth he injured his shoulder and was at one stage ruled out of the rest of the Super Rugby competition.

His only involvement with the Lions after the June break came in the quarter-final win against the Crusaders ... and then in the final in a wet and windy Wellington, when the Lions lost to the Hurricanes.

As was the case a year ago when Whiteley remained close to the team and involved himself in team meetings and discussions, he will do the same this year.

“I’ll try and stay as involved as a I can with the team, but with all my physio, rehabilitation, getting into the oxygen chamber and so on it’s not like I have a lot of time on my hands,” he said.

“I would love to be at every training session, talking to the guys, and helping out where I can...

“The guys have got to this point and they now need to go on and win it.”