Focus on the future keeps Lions positive

A DECISION taken earlier in the season to let the past stay in the past is paying dividends now as the Lions look to continue on their merry ways when they travel to Bloemfontein today to take on the Cheetahs in a Currie Cup match on Saturday.

Lying second in the standings on points difference, Johan Ackermann’s team have surprised many critics following their disappointing run in the Super Rugby competition.

Not many would have predicted that at the halfway mark of the competition, the defending champions would be the form team, playing the most exciting rugby. Especially not after coach John Mitchell was suspended, assistants Carlos Spencer and Wayne Taylor were fired, the team were stripped of their Super Rugby status and in the last few days news broke that former captain Joshua Strauss would be leaving for the Glasgow Warriors in Scotland.

It has been quite a couple of months for the Lions, but they’ve managed to put their issues to one side and focus solely on the rugby.

“We all enjoy each others’ company, the players and the coaching staff. We decided at the start of the competition that there was nothing we could do about the past, all we can do is try and control the week ahead of us and I think we’ve done that pretty well so far,” said Ackermann yesterday. “The players bought into the plan, focusing only on the now.”

JC Janse van Rensburg, who took over the captaincy from Strauss at the start of the competition, echoed the coach’s remarks. “We’re a happy group. We decided we want to defend the title we won last year and we’re going to do everything we can to achieve that.”

The Lions will go into the Cheetahs match high on confidence, having beaten the Blue Bulls at Loftus last weekend. One of the stars of the show then was Jaco Taute, who was back in action for the first time in nearly four months. He played off the bench and will do so again on Saturday, even though Ackermann admits he was very tempted to include the big back in the starting team.

“In fairness to him, though, I think it’s better he comes off the bench again. He can make a huge difference for us from there and he can play anywhere from 12 to 15. He’s a quality player and he gives everyone else so much confidence,” said Ackermann. “Also, I feel it’s fair to show faith in the guys who did the job last week.”

While the Lions team is unchanged, Cheetahs boss Naka Drotske has opted for Tewis de Bruyn at flyhalf and Hendro Scholtz, who came out of retirement 10 days ago, at eighthman.