Johan Ackermann's intuition has not let him down so far this season and the Lions coach will once again rely on his gut feel when he decides on whether to rest some of his influential players ahead of the Super Rugby playoffs. The most popular question since the Lions clinched a playoff spot a week ago has been whether Ackermann would give his Springbok players time off and allow them to recuperate body and mind ahead of the knockout stages. These players have played non-stop rugby for both province and country all season.His senior charges led the Lions to an emphatic‚ albeit not their best performance‚ 57-21 win against the Southern Kings at Ellis Park on Friday night.The side from Gauteng will this week travel to Buenos Aires where they will face the Jaguares in their last pool stage match of the competition.Will the coach look for continuity and want to keep the momentum that players gained on their way to topping the combined Super Rugby log?Or will he rest the likes of Lionel Mapoe‚ Faf de Klerk‚ Elton Jantjies‚ Ruan Combrinck‚ Franco Mostert‚ Jaco Kriel and Julian Redelinghuys – all of whom were part of the Springbok team that beat Ireland 2-1 in the mid-year incoming series?“We will look where we are on Sunday‚” was Ackermann's response.“I'll follow my gut."It has not let me down even when it came to selection‚ when I have to make that 50/50 call I always trust the feeling that I get inside. I'm going to do it again and live with the result afterwards.”A slip up in Argentina against the Jaguares could see the Lions lose their spot at the summit of the Super Rugby log‚ with New Zealand sides the Chiefs and Crusaders hot on their heels.Both the Chiefs and Crusaders showed their intentions of claiming the 2016 Super Rugby crown with runaway victories. The Chiefs beat the Reds 50-5 on Friday‚ while the Crusaders ran riot against the Melbourne Rebels as they ended with a mammoth 85-26 win on Saturday.It will go down to the wire for the Sharks and Bulls with both teams eyeing the only remaining of the three Super rugby playoff spots for the teams in the South African conference.As things stand‚ following their 26-10 win over the Cheetahs in Durban on Saturday night‚ the Sharks remained a step ahead of the Bulls in third place on the SA conference log with only two points separating the sides.The Bulls had hoped the Cheetahs would do them a favour following their own mauling of the visiting Sunwolves with a 50-3 victory at Loftus Versfeld only moments before the battle at the Shark Tank.“We got the five points out of it‚” a mildly satisfied Bulls coach Nollis Marais said after his side's victory.“I said to the guys that we first need to put a big score on so that we get five points from this match.”The Pretoria side is now aware that they will require intervention from outside in order to progress to the knockout stages.This means they will be hoping for a miracle – an upset win for the Sunwolves against the Sharks in Durban - while they will also have to beat the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein.“Things are not entirely in our own hands at the moment‚” admitted Marais.“Now it is out of our hands what happens. Even with the Sharks beating the Cheetahs‚ we will still go out next week to beat the Cheetahs – that's it.”The Stormers quietly went about their business and secured a spot in the knockout stages on Saturday morning when they claimed a 22-3 win against the Western Force in Perth.This was the Cape side's second back-to-back victory on tour. They will look to end their pool stages on a high with win against the Kings‚ whom they face at home at Newlands Stadium next week. - TMG Digital..