I’ll pray for a miracle – De Bruin

Lions coach Swys de Bruin will be praying for divine intervention when his charges embark on a journey many regard as “Mission Impossible”.

They will travel to Christchurch in New Zealand and square up against the most garlanded team in the competition’s history, the Crusaders – red-hot favourites for an unprecedented ninth title.

The Crusaders breezed through the league stages with some ease and are on a 14match unbeaten run after easily beating the Hurricanes in the semifinals.

The Crusaders are yet to lose a knockout match on home soil and are laden with established and emerging All Black legends.

The Cantabrians have won eight of the 12 finals in which they have featured.

As for the Lions‚ who lost in the last two finals‚ the first in wet and windy Wellington and last year on home soil against the Crusaders‚ the odds are as long as their journey.

They boarded a flight to Sydney on Monday before connecting to Christchurch‚ where the Crusaders are yet to lose a Super Rugby knockout game.

The Lions are‚ however‚ the last South African team to beat the Crusaders.

They did that at Ellis Park in a quarterfinal in 2016.

The last South African team to win in Christchurch were the Sharks in 2014.

The Lions have inflicted a home defeat on the Crusaders, way back in 2001.

De Bruin seems undaunted. “I believe in miracles‚” he said cheerily after his team beat the Waratahs 44-26 in their semifinal at Ellis Park.

Meanwhile, the Lions received a huge boost with the news that wing Aphiwe Dyantyi and flank Cyle Brink were declared fit to tour with the team. –