We’ll keep playing ‘Lions rugby’ – Ackermann
LIONS boss Johan Ackermann has vowed his team will continue to play their attacking style of rugby in the Currie Cup semi-final against the Cheetahs at Ellis Park this coming weekend.
Ackermann’s team dominated the round-robin phase with their high tempo, runfrom-all-parts approach, bringing them 10 victories and 48 log points out of a possible 50.
In eight matches they scored four tries or more and went unbeaten through the competition.
In all, the Lions scored an impressive 52 tries and ended with a points differential of plus 213. They will now face the Cheetahs in the second semi-final on Saturday and while some teams may consider reverting to a more conservative style in the knockout rounds, Ackermann says his team knows only one approach – and that’s to play attacking, running rugby.
“It’s what we know and what we like,” he said ahead of the clash.
“You can’t change your style anyway in five days; that would be a crucial error ... telling the players to know all of a sudden to do this and do that.
“We’ll continue to play Lions rugby. It’s brought us to this point and hopefully it’ll still be successful for us in the play-offs.”
The Lions made it 10 victories on a trot on Saturday after beating Griquas 29-19 with a team of fringe players and a bunch of Under-21 stars.
It wasn’t pretty, but Ackermann’s men still got the job done and with 13 regulars now returning to the fray for the play-offs, the Lions will be fresh and at full-strength.
And, they’ll need to be after the Cheetahs were boosted by a thrilling late finish to draw 34-34 with the Sharks in Bloemfontein to book fourth spot.
Franco Smith’s men scored two converted tries in the final five minutes after looking dead and buried against Gary Gold’s men to qualify, but they’ll be up against it at Ellis Park on Saturday.
The Cheetahs won just three times during the regular season and go into the game knowing the last time they faced the Lions – in Bloemfontein – they copped a 73-31 hiding, just three weeks ago.
But while Ackermann will call on his first choice performers this week, he’ll be more than satisfied the backup men at the union showed they will be pushing hard for places in the next year or two. Several players who featured for the first time for the senior team on Saturday showed they can mix it with the big boys, among them flyhalf Jaco van der Walt, who’s not a newcomer to the scene, but a player who is surely close to grabbing a starting spot.
The other semi-final, on Friday, will pit the Bulls against Western Province. The men from Pretoria finished second in the standings after registering a narrow 2524 win against the Pumas in Nelspruit on Friday.
Western Province finished third with seven wins and they’ll be a confident bunch after ending their regular season with a resounding 4514 thumping of the Kings.
The Pretoria showdown is sure to be a lot closer than the Joburg one, with very little separating the teams going into the clash.
The teams met twice in the round-robin phase, with the Bulls winning 47-29 at Loftus and Western Province winning the return fixture 29-14 at Newlands.
The biggest losers of the Currie Cup were the Sharks, missing out on the semifinals after managing just four wins and a draw for 22 log points.
Sixth were the Pumas, followed by the Kings and Griquas, who’ll face the First Division winners, the Leopards, in a promotion-relegation match for a place in the Premier Division next year. FIXTURES Friday: Bulls v WP Pretoria 7.10pm
Saturday: Lions v Cheetahs 1.45pm