Lions confident in semis

The Wellington Hurricanes are prepared to wait as late as possible before their Super Rugby semi-final kicks off against the Waikato Chiefs tomorrow for talismanic skipper Dane Coles to prove his fitness.
Coles is struggling to overcome a severe rib injury in time to lead his side in Wellington, while the Golden Lions host the travelling Otago Highlanders in the second semi in Johannesburg.
Of the final four, only the Hurricanes and Lions have never won the southern hemisphere championship and the Lions also have injury issues with calf problems putting a question mark over captain Warren Whitely.
The Chiefs, back-to-back winners in 2012 and 2013, received a boost midweek when their captain Sam Cane was cleared to play after suffering concussion in their 60-21 thrashing of the Western Stormers last week.
The Hurricanes, who lost last year's final to the Highlanders, draw inspiration from the uncompromising attitude of Coles who suffered a severe blow to the ribs in their quarter-final victory over the Coastal Sharks.
In the Lions camp, Whiteley described his chances of playing as "touch and go", but whether he starts or not the only South African side standing is feeling confident after putting away the Canterbury Crusaders last week.
Assistant coach Swys de Bruin said his side is also a much better unit than when they were beaten by the Highlanders in New Zealand earlier in the year.
"We were not good at a few fundamentals. We did not protect our ball well, we gave away some bad turnovers, we didn't pick our running lines well. From that point of view we've improved a lot," he said.

NAMPA/AFP