Ackermann – ‘There were a lot of grey-hair moments’

Editor

Coach Johan Ackermann feared that Saturday's 23-21 Super Rugby quarter-final win over the Sharks could have been his Lions swansong.

The Sharks looked on course to cause a major upset leading 21-20 with just two minutes left on the clock but Lions winger Ruan Combrinck's 78th-minute long-distance penalty spared the blushes of the home side.

Ackermann, who was in charge of the side that got to the final last year only to be beaten at the final hurdle by the Hurricanes, will leave South Africa for English side Gloucester at the end of this season’s Super Rugby campaign.

And the Lions mentor is mightily relieved that he still has a chance to avenge that defeat when his side host the defending champions in the semi-final next weekend.

“There were a lot of grey-hair moments and I was thinking, this can't be the way I am going to end my time with the Lions,” Ackermann told Reuters.

“We'll take it, but credit to the Sharks. They put us under a lot of pressure. But we also put ourselves on the back foot. At halftime I told the players to lift the intensity and play wider.

“Our decision-making wasn't the best. Hopefully, we can improve that for next weekend. There were opportunities to run and we still kicked sometimes. We must finish those opportunities.

“The whole 80 minutes wasn't good enough. We were lucky to get away with the victory. We have to be better.”

The Lions now have a chance for payback against the Hurricanes after last year’s 20-3 final loss in Wellington.

“I haven't even thought about that,” Ackermann said. “Today was just about getting through to the next round.”