Ackermann: Lions have 'no margin for error'

Speaking to rugby365 ahead of the Lions' Round 12 encounter with the Blues at Ellis Park on Saturday, Ackermann admitted his team conceded an important advantage over Africa Two conference rivals the Sharks - when they lost 17-50 to the Hurricanes in Round 10.

Last week's bye allowed plenty of time for analysis and Ackermann said attitude and a lack of accuracy were among the main contributing factors to the defeat.

It has left them  in a situation where "every game from here on is vital".

"We had a bit of a buffer on the Sharks [in the African Two conference], but gave it up with that loss to the Hurricanes," Ackermann said, adding that a week later the Sharks pulled off a great win against the Hurricanes and now there is just one point difference between the two sides on the standings.

"We are basically level [on the table]. There are just six games remaining - three now and another three after the June break.

"In the context that this is a home game and the Sharks are hot on our heels, makes this [encounter with the Blues] a hugely important game.

"Neither of us [Lions and Sharks] can afford any more slips [in the final six weeks]."

The Lions, who also have a game in hand over the Sharks, will play four of their six remaining games at home (Ellis Park), one just up the N1 at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria and conclude their league fixtures against the Jaguares in Argentina.

The Sharks, who travel to Argentina this week, play three more games at home and have to face the Lions in Johannesburg.

"There is no doubt it is an advantage for us, given that we don't have to sit on an airplane for hours, or in a bus.

"The travel factor makes it difficult and affects your preparations. If you travel on a Sunday and arrive home late, then you still have to arrive early on a Monday for training. It means the players have to be managed differently.

"From that perspective we are fortunate that four of the six games are at home.

"It is all in our own hands. We can't ask for a better run-in to the play-offs and that is why it was such a big disappointment, that we did not use that advantage against the Hurricanes.

"However, we do have some very tough games coming up.

"Just think about the teams and the names [quality of the players in those teams] - starting with the Blues [at Ellis Park this week], then the Jaguares [also at home, a week later], who we all know is a team of international quality that can turn it on, on the day, then you have the Bulls at Loftus [Versfeld, May 28] and then [after the June break] we have the Sharks.

"The games might be right here in and around Johannesburg, but against four quality teams.

"We will still have to play very good rugby if we want to stay in the running.

"We may have the advantage of playing on home turf, but we will have to play a lot better than what we did two weeks ago."

Ackermann said the Hurricanes fell into the same trap this past Saturday against the Sharks than what happened to his team the week before when they lost to the Canes.

"We simply did not use our opportunities in those first 10 minutes," he told rugby365, adding: "You can find many reasons.

"You can look at attitude, you can look at accuracy, etc. But you only get so many opportunities in Super Rugby to score points.

"You know there will always be momentum changes in a game. For 10 minutes we attacked, but didn't score any points. The Hurricanes got into our half once and scored a try from a ball we lost in contact. After that we conceded a couple of intercept tries and from there we were under pressure.

"My message is simple: 'If we get those opportunities in the Blues' half, we must use it'.

"We have to get points and build pressure on the opposition.

"We did that very well against the Sharks in Durban and we did it well against the Stormers in Johannesburg. We were simply not accurate enough in that regard against the Hurricanes.

"It is not a case that we are doubting the players' ability or that we have to make drastic changes to our game plan. It is a case of attitude and accuracy.

"Perhaps those victories before the Hurricanes game resulted in the players thinking they just have to turn up, but hopefully we won't fall into the same trap.

"The players know what my expectations are around that."

By Jan de Koning

@rugby365com