ACKER's FINGER: Johan Ackermann did not take nonsense on the rugby field, as this England player discovered in 2006.
This column was crafted before kick-off of Saturdays URC semi-final between the Warriors and the Bulls, but whatever the result for the men from Pretoria, they will have given their all for their revered coach, Johan Ackermann.
I know this from my experience of covering Ackermann’s playing days. The big fellow was highly respected by his teammates.
In 2001, the Cats rugby team was on a Super 12 tour in Australia. On the rowdy bus trip to a training session, something was said that annoyed Johan Ackermann.
When the bus broke out in laughter at the offending remark, Ackermann quietly got up and walked to the front of the bus, took the microphone, and sternly said in Afrikaans: “Make a queue. I don’t want to go looking for anyone.”
