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Cape Town - The regular season of Super Rugby has come to an end and the Lions have to be content with second place on the overall log.
Johan Ackermann's decision to rest his entire first team for Saturday's trip to the Jaguares did not pay off, and now the Lions face the prospect of playing the Super Rugby final in New Zealand should they get that far.
With the quarter-finals taking place this weekend, this is a good time to look back at the regular season and see how all 18 sides fared in the stats department.
In terms of attack, the Lions lead the way.
The Johannesburgers scored 71 tries throughout the season with the Chiefs (68), Crusaders (65) and Hurricanes (61) all following.
The Kings scored just 34 tries all season to be the worst South African side on attack, but quarter-finalists the Sharks were not much better with just 40 tries.
The Lions also made more metres than any other side this season - their 8010m followed by the Hurricanes with 7653m.
The Lions have also combined to beat more defenders (411) than any other side this season. The Blues, the only New Zealand side not to make the playoffs, are second in that department having beaten 369 defenders.
In terms of clean breaks, the Crusaders lead the way with 248. The Chiefs are next best with 208 while the highest placed South African teams was the Lions with 192.
The Sharks remained competitive throughout the competition due to their resilient defence.
The Sharks conceded just 30 tries during the season, but the best defensive record in the tournament belonged to the Stormers and the Highlanders, who both conceded just 28 tries.
The worst defensive record belonged, unsurprisingly, to the Kings who conceded a whopping 98 times.
Individually, the Waratahs' Israel Folau leads the way with the most tries (11). There are a number of players tied second with 9 tries each, including Damian McKenzie, Lionel Mapoe and Sergeal Petersen.
The leading points scorer in the competition so far is Hurricanes flyhalf Beauden Barrett (184) while the leading South Africa is Lions flyhalf Elton Jantjies (148).
For a closer look at the tournament stats, check out the Super Rugby website.
