‘Canes are quality but it’s zero-zero’

The last time the Lions squared up against the Hurricanes they got a proper sense of why the team from Wellington adopted that moniker.

The Lions failed to warm to the Super Rugby final largely because the Cake Tin (Westpac Stadium) resembled a cooler box, thanks to an icy breeze that swept in across the Cook Strait.

They thought they were within touching distance of the trophy, but in the end could barely feel the tips of their fingers.

Conditions could not be more different when the teams meet in the semifinal at sunny Ellis Park tomorrow. Having last year travelled all that way only to encounter conditions that had them spluttering like cats in water, one would have forgiven the Lions had they developed a taste for retribution.

“We haven’t looked at last year once,” said Lions coach Johan Ackermann in reference to the final, as well as the 50-17 league defeat the Hurricanes inflicted on them at Ellis Park.

“We haven’t spoken about revenge and if there is talk about that it is from the media. “It makes them favourites, definitely,” he conceded.

“A lot has changed, though. Both teams have lost players. For me it's zero-zero, a clean slate. The reality, however, is that they are a quality side. I think both sides will play an exciting game. They have quality players at the back.”

The biggest threat is the tourists’ Peter Pan flyhalf, Beauden Barrett.But Ackermann says his team won’t pay too much attention to him.

They are equally dismissive when they are reminded that they topped the points table without being tested by New Zealand opposition.

“We have experience playing against them and I'm hoping the players can tap into that. You have to do some good things if you finish No 1,” countered Ackermann.