But just as soon to raise eyebrows was when coach Johan Ackermann accepted the relief of making the playoffs, but was more concerned about the mistakes the players had made in their 37-10 Vodacom Super Rugby victory over their closest conference rivals.
And there was much to celebrate, but somehow it escaped the Lions management, who have one eye on the remaining weeks of the competition while looking a bit stunned when told of what they have achieved.
After all, it isn’t every season that you rack up your tenth win in Super Rugby – beating the franchise record of nine in the past, and while it may just be a formality, if there was such a thing as a combined log, the Lions top it above the four New Zealand franchises in contention for the first time in history.
This in itself is significant because when it comes to the final rounds of the competition, log points will point to where the games will take place and in this regard the Lions will want to be on top to maintain their home ground status.
The playoff spot in itself is significant and underlines just how far ahead of the competition the Lions currently are of the chasing pack, and just how much confidence they are currently playing with.
Ackermann smiled when asked about the playoff spot, but true to his nature was more focused on the fact his side had returned for the first time from the mid-season break and put together a performance that was worthy of their own standards.
“We haven’t really looked at that, it hasn’t sunk in (the playoff spot). We were simply looking for the victory because that is the important hurdle to get over,” Ackermann explained.
“The plus side of that is the log position but we have also secured the top spot, so we will have a home quarterfinal here, so that is the reward. We are grateful for how the season went, but we will have to stay humble and start all over on Monday again.”
Ackermann spoke a bit further about the difficult week they had, as for the first time, there were a bevy of emotions to deal with after several players were selected for national duty.
“It was a difficult week, an unsure week for us in what to expect. Not because we doubted in the players but because we were away from each other for such a long time,” Ackermann explained.
“Firstly about the game I’m thankful we won it, more so about the bonus point and that we’ve secured the playoff. I’m proud of the guys and in general a good game for us, but we didn’t use all our opportunities and I was a bit disappointed in the slump in the second half.
“Defensively the guys were really good, and we finished off the opportunities well. We missed a few, but we will take that. At 27-0 it puts a lot of pressure on the opposition, they suddenly have to take more risks, where you can play a bit more territory. We knew if we could start well in the second half, that will probably be the game. Luckily we did. The first half was tremendous from the guys.”
But instead of speaking about the wonders of making the playoffs, the coach was more concerned with the missed opportunities in the romp, and said while the returning Springboks had made a massive impact, there was still a lot of work to be done.
