Ackermann relishing his last week in charge
JOHANNESBURG: Outgoing Lions coach Johan Ackermann will soak up every moment he has with his players this week, leading up to his last game in charge of his team – in the match he always hoped he’d have: the Super Rugby final at a sold-out Ellis Park.
“There’s one more game to go and this week I’m going to take it all in,” he said.
Head coach Ackermann will leave the Lions next week after five years in charge, to take up a position with Gloucester in England.
“It’s a privilege to be in the Super Rugby final. It’s exactly 10 years since I experienced the disappointment of losing as a player (for the Sharks against the Bulls) ... this time I want to finish as a winner,” Ackermann said.
The Lions had to pull out all the stops to get the better of the Hurricanes on Saturday after trailing 22-3 just before halftime. But a try-saving tackle by Kwagga Smith on Jordie Barrett, two lineout steals on the Lions’ tryline by Franco Mostert, and a ball steal at a ruck by captain Jaco Kriel stemmed the tide and allowed the home team to score next and in total 41 points to seven in the second half to win a thriller.
“It’s unreal what has happened. This is what I always hoped for when I was to finish here (as coach of the Lions) ... to play (a final) in front of our own fans. This has been a special journey, with a special bunch of men. We have been blessed,” Ackermann said.
“My dream was to finish here at home, at a full Ellis Park ... you can’t ask for more than that. To know where we were in 2013 (out of Super Rugby) to where we are now ... all those memories along the way, what we have gone through, those are the emotions going through me.”
The Crusaders will be only the second New Zealand team the Lions will have played against this year, after facing the Hurricanes in the semifinals. They will be formidable opponents who, like the Lions, lost only once in the regular season, with their steely defence the hallmark of their game. The Lions though did get the better of them at Ellis Park in last year’s quarter-finals, but Ackermann said that match would have no bearing on what happens this weekend.
“The reality is the Crusaders are a quality side; there are All Black players all over the place ... just look at their background, their history. It’s going to come down to one 80-minute performance,” Ackermann said.
“But we’ve got a lot of belief in our own abilities, so again all I can ask of the players is to give it their best. Right now we haven’t achieved anything, we haven’t won a trophy yet. They are also going to fight to the end.”