Big cats have same blueprint
Cheetahs coach Franco Smith has plenty of admiration for what his Lions counterpart Johan Ackermann has achieved in terms of developing squad depth and a positive brand of rugby, which is very similar to what he is trying to do in Bloemfontein.
The Lions have won every single game this season playing an attractive, attacking style, and their victory against Griquas last week showed that they have some handy back-up players to fall back on if they need them as well.
When Smith took over from Naka Drotske at the end of the Super Rugby season he made it clear that he would be giving young players exposure and looking to play some running rugby in the Currie Cup.
It has been a tough campaign for the Free State side, but with three wins, two draws and eight bonus points they snuck into the play-offs which gives them a chance to measure themselves against the unbeaten Lions at Ellis Park on Saturday.
"We are still making some schoolboy or very immature errors, but with time that will sort itself out and we have come quite a long way from where we started at the beginning of the season.
"We have given a lot of players that will be involved in Super Rugby next year a bit more experience, and now we have a lot of young guys to fall back on.
"The main aim was to give the players experience and the only way to do that is by blooding them, and I think they have used the Currie Cup well to make a mark for themselves," Smith told rugby365.
Smith said that his experience coaching in Europe taught him the importance of building depth in the way that Ackermann has at the Lions over the past few years.
"They have done exactly what I have learned, in Europe it is all about squad depth because you have to play 28 club games a year and you must have a decent squad, especially when there are internationals.
"You must be able to rotate and keep freshness and enthusiasm without injuries influencing your success or the results that you want. So it is really important to be competitive, you must have a squad of players that are all able and equipped to play at a certain level," he said.
On top of that the players at the Lions have really bought into their coach's philosophy of playing attacking rugby, which Smith feels has been key to their success.
"I think they played seven games consecutively and their first team players are playing for a higher purpose than just to win the Currie Cup.
"You can see in the way they gel and try to play good rugby and show some fight so I don't think it will take much for them to gel," he said.
Smith added that in order to have a chance against the Lions, his side will have to stay true to their attacking strengths and take every single opportunity they can get.
"First of all we must stick to what we can do well, we have scored tries all year and we have certain attributes and it is important for us to be clinical, our execution has to be spot on.
"I think we have to make a physical step up and playing in a semifinal will help us to be at the top of our game," he said.
This weekend may be a step too far for the Cheetahs against an ominous Lions side, but there is no doubt Smith is putting in the same sort of groundwork that Ackermann has at Ellis Park over the last few years.
While the Lions have been the stand-out team of the Currie Cup this year, the Cheetahs have the potential to match them in the future using a very similar blueprint.
By Michael de Vries
