More 'belief creeping in' for Lions
The Lions secured their place in the play-offs with a 44-17 win over the Free State Cheetahs in Johannesburg and they will now play Western Province in one of the semifinals in Cape Town next weekend.
The other semifinal sees the Sharks host the Blue Bulls in Durban.
"We said we wanted to go from last to the semis and now hopefully we can go right to the top…It [the win] is a great feeling," said De Bruin after the game.
De Bruin also praised the contribution from his Springboks like Malcolm Marx in the crucial clash.
"I think the Springboks played like Springboks. That was vital and they gave away a lot of confidence to the rest of the team.
"There is definitely a belief creeping in. You can sense it, you can feel it.
"We had it in Super Rugby as well where it was tight and we had to hit the rock and hit it until it breaks. Sometimes it breaks earlier than later, but I got the same feeling," De Bruin added.
De Bruin knows that it will be a tough task to beat Province in Cape Town.
"I would love to see what happened there [Province's 31-20 victory against Sharks] because to beat the Sharks in Durban like that is something we will have to watch."
He added: "They [Province] will definitely be a different animal. We played well last week [in a 29-20 win] and they are a very good competitive side. They are a very established side, so they will come with the best."
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