Lions rugby coach Johan Ackermann and his brave team deserve all the credit heaped on them after they booked their place in a second successive Super Rugby final with a stirring display against the Hurricanes on Saturday afternoon.
The Lions fought back from being 22-3 down to win 44-29 with an inspired second-half performance. The triumph avenged last year’s loss to the Hurricanes in the final in Wellington.
They will play the seven-time champions, the Crusaders, in the final at Ellis Park on Saturday, after the New Zealanders earlier brushed aside the Chiefs. Both the Lions and Crusaders have only lost one match in the campaign so the final should provide a fitting end to an entertaining competition.
In the build-up to Saturday’s semifinal, many pundits questioned how the Lions would cope playing against a New Zealand team for the first time in 2017.
It took the home side more than 30 minutes to adapt, but once they found their feet there was no looking back. Back-to-back finals is an unbelievable achievement for a franchise who were relegated from the competition just a few years ago.
Ellis Park hasn’t been close to full in both the quarterfinals and semifinals – a real pity for South Africa’s most consistent team in recent times.
It would be wonderful to see Lions supporters, and South African supporters for that matter, fill up the stadium this Saturday. Go Lions.
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