The house that Ackers built
PLAYERS BOUGHT INTO HIS METHODS
The Lions stand on the brink of a maiden Super Rugby title and are undoubtedly a top-class outfit, having made the last two finals and beaten every New Zealand team in the past two years.
It has been a journey to the top that literally started at the bottom of the pile though, and has taken just four years to complete.
Having finished last in the standings six times between 1998 and 2012, the Lions were relegated from Super Rugby in 2013, which coincided with Johan Ackermann’s appointment as head coach, replacing New Zealand’s John Mitchell.
They returned in 2014, via a promotion/relegation victory over the Southern Kings, and won seven games, equalling their most ever in a season, set in 2000 and 2001 when they made the semifinals under Laurie Mains, as the Cats, in combination with the Free State Cheetahs.
That increased to nine games in 2015 and then, having won the Currie Cup the previous year, the Lions really made their presence felt in 2016 and 2017, getting all the way to the final in both years as Ackermann’s plans really began to bear fruit.
Ackermann, a former Springbok lock, is without a doubt a coach who has the ability to inspire players and build a successful team culture, but he has also inculcated an attacking mindset into his side, one where the players are not afraid to make mistakes, playing a brand of rugby in which they are free to express themselves.
But it’s not all just fun and games and throwing the ball around willy-nilly at Ellis Park. There is a tremendous mindset of hard work and players having to earn the jersey every week.
It is a tribute to Ackermann’s man-management skills that the players sitting on the bench or only playing occasionally still back him to the hilt.
It really is one big happy family at the Lions.
It has sometimes been said that Swys de Bruin, who will now take over from Ackermann as he heads off to Gloucester after the final, is the true brains behind the Lions’ success.
But while De Bruin is a truly visionary coach, especially when it comes to attack, that is unfair on Ackermann, who is one of the foremost technicians when it comes to forward play. It is the excellence of the Lions pack, especially in the set-pieces, that allows them to play the sort of rugby they do.
Ackermann also identified that the style of rugby Mitchell had introduced before losing the dressingroom was the right way to go – playing at a tempo and intensity far higher than other South African teams, the Lions soon separated themselves from all local competition, such that they have not been beaten in a local derby for 17 games.
Ackermann, a typically hardnosed Springbok lock who played 13 Tests, first began coaching while at Northampton, where former All Black coach Wayne Smith brought him in to help with the forwards.
When former Lions coach Dick Muir offered Ackermann a post at his academy in 2009 it would be an inspired move as the player who appeared 31 times for the Golden Lions and 24 times for the Cats between 1999 and 2001 was then promoted to franchise forwards coach by Mitchell.
“I learned a lot from both Dick and Mitch which I managed to take forward with me, but at the same time I started implementing my own ideas,” said Ackermann. “My respect for the players and management will never change and it has been an absolute pleasure coming from Pretoria every morning to share this journey with them.”
The pleasure has all been ours, Ackers, go well.