Ackerman bursting with Lions pride after their titanic effort

LIONS coach Johan Ackermann says he couldn’t be prouder of his team after they narrowly missed out on keeping their Super Rugby play-off hopes alive by drawing 19-19 with the Stormers at Newlands, writes CRAIG RAY.

The Lions, who were not even in the tournament two years ago — when the Southern Kings replaced them — will end up as runners-up in the South African Conference.

They have completed their 16-match roster and secured 42 points on the standings.

The third-placed Bulls have 37 points and even if the Pretoria side earns five points in their final clash against the Cheetahs they cannot move above the Lions.

“Words can’t explain how proud I am of the guys,” Ackermann said.

“The effort out there, during this whole season was massive. At every team talk you knew that, when you asked for something, for the most part, they would deliver it.

“We had a couple of poor games — against the Brumbies and the Crusaders — but in general the graph is on the up.

“It was a team effort right from the very top with Oom Kevin (Lions president Kevin de Klerk) to the team masseuse.”

The Lions won a record nine games during the season and also won a record three wins on tour. They have used only 35 players, facilitating continuity in selection — a credit to the conditioning and management of players. They also, effectively, had only one bye, as their second one is next weekend.

The Lions will then be able to enjoy the benefit of three weeks off before they kick off their preparations for the Currie Cup campaign.

“There will be a few changes to the squad for the Currie Cup season,” Ackermann said.

“Schalk van der Merwe (prop) is going to France and Elton Jantjies (flyhalf) has to return to Japan; and we don’t know if any of the players are part of the Springboks’ plans.

“But the majority of the players will hopefully be with us so we will not find ourselves having to build up that momentum all over again.

“If this is the level we can play at then we go into the Currie Cup with great confidence.

“We only have a few players who are having to finalise their contracts. This time next year we should have pretty much the same team on the field again. Our plan is to have that kind of continuity. If the budget allows, we might sign one or two big names but, if not, we will look to our younger players to make the step up.”

We had a couple of poor games — the Brumbies and the Crusaders — but in general the graph is on the up