THERE was nothing "final'' about the torment Johan Ackermann experienced at the climax of the 2007 Super Rugby competition.
Ackermann and his Sharks teammates watched in horror in the final as the Bulls' Bryan Habana conjured a try well after the siren to snatch the title.
The torment lingered and it was only after the 2011 Currie Cup final when he was assistant coach of the victorious Lions, that Ackermann found closure.
"I would think about that a lot. Mostly in disbelief," Ackermann revealed yesterday.
Unavoidably, however, the Lions head coach had to confront those memories this week as he prepared his team for tomorrow's Currie Cup final at Newlands, their first against Western Province since 1986.
Thankfully, Ackermann's only experience of a Currie Cup final as a player ended in nirvana as his Lions lock partner Hannes Strydom lifted the trophy in Durban in 1999.
Relentless Lions pressure reduced the Sharks, particularly those in the throes of their swansong, to rubble and Ackermann is under no illusion his team will have to play their best game of the season if Province are to implode as spectacularly.
"I believe so. We are playing the best side in the competition."
One way of throwing the hosts off their game is by applying the squeeze to their scrum. To that end, Ackermann yesterday added prop Jacques van Rooyen to the bench ahead of flank Kwagga Smith.
"When we saw Province had two front rowers on the bench we wanted to match that. We would like to have a fresh front row in the second half. They complement each other so we can keep that intensity in the scrums."
"It is always a little bit wet under foot and there are a few more scrums at Newlands."
Captain Warren Whiteley also called for calm. Even in attack.
"Playing against a side with a fantastic defensive record means you are not going to get through their defence in the first four, five phases as we have been doing in the last two weekends. We are really going to have to fight hard and be patient."
The Lions team: Jaco van der Walt, Ruan Combrinck, Lionel Mapoe, Howard Mnisi, Courtnall Skosan, Marnitz Boshoff, Ross Cronje, Warren Whiteley (captain), Derick Minnie, Jaco Kriel, Franco Mostert, Martin Muller, Ruan Dreyer, Robbie Coetzee, Schalk van der Merwe. Substitutes: Armand van der Merwe, Jacques van Rooyen, Julian Redelinghuys, Willie Britz, Warwick Tecklenburg, Mark Richards, Harold Vorster.
Will Ackermann get to relive finals heartbreak?
THERE was nothing "final'' about the torment Johan Ackermann experienced at the climax of the 2007 Super Rugby competition.
Ackermann and his Sharks teammates watched in horror in the final as the Bulls' Bryan Habana conjured a try well after the siren to snatch the title.
The torment lingered and it was only after the 2011 Currie Cup final when he was assistant coach of the victorious Lions, that Ackermann found closure.
"I would think about that a lot. Mostly in disbelief," Ackermann revealed yesterday.
Unavoidably, however, the Lions head coach had to confront those memories this week as he prepared his team for tomorrow's Currie Cup final at Newlands, their first against Western Province since 1986.
Thankfully, Ackermann's only experience of a Currie Cup final as a player ended in nirvana as his Lions lock partner Hannes Strydom lifted the trophy in Durban in 1999.
Relentless Lions pressure reduced the Sharks, particularly those in the throes of their swansong, to rubble and Ackermann is under no illusion his team will have to play their best game of the season if Province are to implode as spectacularly.
"I believe so. We are playing the best side in the competition."
One way of throwing the hosts off their game is by applying the squeeze to their scrum. To that end, Ackermann yesterday added prop Jacques van Rooyen to the bench ahead of flank Kwagga Smith.
"When we saw Province had two front rowers on the bench we wanted to match that. We would like to have a fresh front row in the second half. They complement each other so we can keep that intensity in the scrums."
"It is always a little bit wet under foot and there are a few more scrums at Newlands."
Captain Warren Whiteley also called for calm. Even in attack.
"Playing against a side with a fantastic defensive record means you are not going to get through their defence in the first four, five phases as we have been doing in the last two weekends. We are really going to have to fight hard and be patient."
The Lions team: Jaco van der Walt, Ruan Combrinck, Lionel Mapoe, Howard Mnisi, Courtnall Skosan, Marnitz Boshoff, Ross Cronje, Warren Whiteley (captain), Derick Minnie, Jaco Kriel, Franco Mostert, Martin Muller, Ruan Dreyer, Robbie Coetzee, Schalk van der Merwe. Substitutes: Armand van der Merwe, Jacques van Rooyen, Julian Redelinghuys, Willie Britz, Warwick Tecklenburg, Mark Richards, Harold Vorster.
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