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Cape Town - Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham says he has been impressed by what he’s seen of the Lions thus far this season.
Larkham was speaking after his side beat Johan Ackermann’s Lions in a Super Rugby clash in Johannesburg at the weekend.
With the Stormers having a bye and the Bulls losing, the Lions had a golden opportunity to top the South African Conference were they able to topple the Brumbies.
Despite going up 6-0 early in the game, the Lions quickly found themselves 22-6 down following a blitz of tries by the visitors.
The Lions fought gallantly but were never able to recover, eventually going down 30-20.
The defeat saw the Lions remain in eighth place on the overall log and they now have to win their three remaining matches and hope for permutations elsewhere to go their way to slip into the playoffs.
But Larkham said the men from Johannesburg can hold their heads high and said Ackermann has “achieved impressive things with the team”.
Larkham, a former flyhalf who played 127 times for the Brumbies and 102 Tests for the Wallabies, has been Brumbies head coach since last year, having started as Jake White’s assistant in 2012.
“I don’t think the Lions should under-value what they have achieved thus far in this campaign,” Larkham told Netwerk24.
“It’s a promising young group of players who have grown a lot this past year. If the core of this group stays together, the union will have a lot of success.”
