Lacklustre Lions frustrate Ackermann

Although his side booked a semifinal against Western Province next week, Golden Lions coach was left frustrated at Ellis Park on Saturday.

The Johannesburg side secured a late bonus point in their tense 35-28 victory over bottom-feeders Griquas, but Ackermann was not satisified with their erratic performance.

“I think the whole game was frustrating. We didn’t play well, our discipline was again a problem and you can’t build momentum if you keep on giving away penalties and losing possession,” Ackermann said after the match.

“I was frustrated... especially at half-time but again the guys showed character to pull the win off.”

Ackermann said while his team’s display was far from a complete performance they would nevertheless take some momentum into their semifinal.

“If we had lost we would have been sitting here down in the dumps and even if we got a bonus point we would have said we needed to drastically improve,” he said.

“The win will certainly help, but what is good from the victory is that this is the way a semifinal will be won.”

The lead frequently changed hands with Lions substitute Willie Britz breaking the 28-28 deadlock with a try shortly before the end of the match to claim the victory.

The Johannesburg outfit finished the round-robin phase in fourth place and will face defending champions Western Province in Cape Town in the early match next Saturday, while the Sharks will host the Free State Cheetahs in Durban later in the afternoon.

“We were a bit lacklustre and we didn’t have a lot of energy and I think in the back of our minds we knew we needed just one point to get a semifinal,” he said.

SAPA