Winning must define Mitch’s mongrels
3 Feb 2012
MARK KEOHANE, writing in SA Rugby magazine, says it’s time for the Lions to deliver in Super Rugby.
John Mitchell’s Lions deserved their 2011 Currie Cup success, but it is their 2012 Super Rugby campaign that will prove more telling. And it has to be a results-driven one.
Putting in good performances is no longer good enough. Playing good rugby is also not good enough. Winning in 2012 is what has to define the Lions.
Mitchell’s mongrels (said with great affection) are no longer a young squad. This will be their fourth tournament campaign with Mitchell and for all the heroics of their domestic high, the road to the play-offs was made easier because of the World Cup. The Lions, it cannot be ignored, were not affected by national call-ups. There was no disruption from the Super Rugby tournament into the Currie Cup. No other team had such a luxury.
Mitchell’s side struggled in Super Rugby in 2011 because of poor decision-making, inexperience and an inability to translate good intentions into victories.
For every good performance there was the converse a week later. Many of the results were defeats by less than seven points, but that should never be the measurement of a team with any aspiration. To win you only need one more point than your opponent. Those who beat the Lions may feel they won with something to spare.
Lions president Kevin de Klerk has spoken glowingly of Mitchell and his influence at the union. De Klerk said he never stopped believing in the New Zealander and never doubted for a moment that he could transform a team – mocked as circus Lions – into something a bit more intimidating.
The euphoria among the Lions players, management, administration and supporters was understandable after the Currie Cup final win against the Sharks. But the reality of the Lions is that until they deliver a winning Super Rugby season little will have changed.
I am not suggesting they have to win the tournament, but the expectation has to be a top-six – and play-off – finish. The Currie Cup is a feeder competition to Super Rugby. The strength of a team is what they do in Super Rugby and not the Currie Cup.
There is no escaping this reality and the only way to give the Currie Cup success of 2011 credibility is for those same players to win more than they lose against Australia, New Zealand and South Africa’s best. This will also be an important season for Mitchell, who has a reputation for being able to fix a team but not always deliver champions.
I don’t think the Lions have a good enough squad to win the Super Rugby title, so it would be unfair to demand of Mitchell to add it to their Currie Cup crown, but if the hype of dominating a watered down Currie Cup tournament is to be accepted as an accurate reflection of their strength, they can’t be excused a season in which they finish in the bottom three and claim the odd victory.
The Lions in 2011 were the good-news story of South African rugby, more so because it allowed everyone to forget the Springboks’ Tri-Nations and World Cup disasters, in which the Boks finished last in the former and equalled their worst-ever performance at the latter.
The Lions can’t afford to be an illusion similar to the Boks of 2011. There has been no internal analysis of where the Boks went wrong in 2011. There has simply been a collective belief that the Boks were done a dirty by a New Zealand referee.
There has to be a bit more realism attached to the story of the Lions and there are still questions that have to be answered. We’ll get that in the 2012 Super Rugby tournament.
What we will also get is the return of the Bulls. I’m backing them to be the South African team to beat, which doesn’t excuse the Lions finishing outside the top six.
– This column first appeared in the Jan-Feb issue of SA Rugby magazine. The March issue is on sale from 15 February. Click here to subscribe to the print or digital edition.
127 Comments
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3 Feb 2012, 12:35 pm
The Dragon Mitch:
- No longer required in Britannia.
- Will never get another Pro- Coaching role in NZ.
- Will never get another Pro-Coaching role in Aus.
Saviour of the Joburg Prawns………………………………………….Yeah Right.
3 Feb 2012, 12:50 pm
Lions lost 5 games by 7 or less. (and a draw)
Cheetahs 7 games by 7 or less.
Cheetahs also won 2 more games then the Lions did…
So turn those losses (and a draw) into wins, and you’ve got a mid-table Lions, while the Cheetahs are up there competing for top of the table.
Obvious who needs to be dropped if they must find a place for the Kings.
3 Feb 2012, 12:52 pm
“but the expectation has to be a top-six – and play-off – finish”
Setting their sights a bit high, don’t you think?
Goals have to be realistic… otherwise they’re not worth setting.
3 Feb 2012, 12:53 pm
No Keo. A mid-table finish would be a vast improvement. Going for a top 6 spot is pushing the boundaries of creduality. A top six finish should be the long-term aim, not this year’s.
3 Feb 2012, 12:53 pm
@hendrikp-3: He is setting the Lions up for failure.
3 Feb 2012, 12:59 pm
I’m backing them to be the South African team to beat, which doesn’t excuse the Lions finishing outside the top six.
Must be high on something.
Top 8 finish for them will be great.
3 Feb 2012, 13:01 pm
Keo, one of your more sober articles. Keep it up and stay away from Crystal Meth.
It is time for the Lions to deliver, finishing last in the SA conference is not an option.
Know this these Lions will go down fighting – their careers are on the line.
3 Feb 2012, 13:07 pm
@PissAnt-6:
For the Bulls?
I think Keo is on to something, the Bulls will be very good IMO.
Still reckon the Stormers will finish the top SA side, but that all our sides – except for the Lions – will have very good years, including the Cheetahs.
True measure will be South Africa’s record versus the Australian & NZ conferences, which I think will be very good.
3 Feb 2012, 13:08 pm
Mitch’s mongrels.
Redpussy springs to mind.
Three legged brak with mange and a lazy eye.
3 Feb 2012, 13:12 pm
It ?s go?ng to be a tough season ?n the SA conference, w?th depth as cruc?al as always (the Cheetahs downfall over the years). How the yo?ngsters com?ng throw adapt to superrugby can determ?ne the success or not of the L?ons and Cheetahs
3 Feb 2012, 13:12 pm
@hendrikp-3: nonsense. Aim for the sun and you may hit the moon.
3 Feb 2012, 13:15 pm
Bulls will be boosted by Matfield’s return halfway through the season. I saw the carefull way in which he answered Pearce’s direct questions about his possible return on Boots and F’all last night…
3 Feb 2012, 13:15 pm
@scar-10: dyslexia? …… but I get the jist of the message. Quite right, Cheetahs have good depth this year and so too for Mitch’s mongrels.
3 Feb 2012, 13:17 pm
@Tacitus-12: Hahaha, you’re a comedian!
3 Feb 2012, 13:19 pm
@RL-13: weird – the I and the ? aren’t even close on the keyboard
3 Feb 2012, 13:19 pm
Come on, keo. So the team that finished last has to make the play-offs the next year or else they are a failure? Jeez, your parents must have driven you hard.
3 Feb 2012, 13:24 pm
Top 8 will be a great achievement for the current Lions squad. The year after a top 6 finish can be a realistic goal.
3 Feb 2012, 13:26 pm
@>^..^< katman-16: Well, they drove over him
3 Feb 2012, 13:27 pm
@>^..^< katman-16: They put an anvil on his head. “Grow young man! Grow!” We know how that one turned out
3 Feb 2012, 13:31 pm
@trupisero-19: Saulsa45 won’t help either
3 Feb 2012, 13:36 pm
Keo was the BabyJesus in his school Nativity play 5 years in a row.
He is an overachiever.
3 Feb 2012, 13:38 pm
@the artist formerly known as gunther-21: Which may not sound all that impressive. But consider that those 5 years were standard 6 to matric…
3 Feb 2012, 13:43 pm
@>^..^< katman-22: or just matric.
3 Feb 2012, 13:48 pm
@trupisero-23: Now now let’s not do a Percy Monty on him by presuming he failed Matric. Failed the height entrance requirements to the army and police force, maybe.
3 Feb 2012, 13:48 pm
Ahhhh matric.
The best years of keos life.
3 Feb 2012, 13:53 pm
@Michael-24: lol….Its a fact that 6 out of 7 dwarfs aren’t happy
3 Feb 2012, 13:56 pm
The Lions can’t and won’t deliver sh yt, this is the real stuff not that funny Cup played when the top class players are gone. I said it at the time and will say it again, that domestic cup played during the RWC and the Tri-Nations shouldn’t be called the Currie Cup, it should be renamed a Challenge Cup.
3 Feb 2012, 13:56 pm
@trupisero-26: Poor Keo, always trying to reach for the top.
3 Feb 2012, 13:57 pm
@XhosaKid-27: No one listened to you back then either.
3 Feb 2012, 14:06 pm
@>^..^< katman-29: But you will when the Lions end bottom of Super Rugby, that drubbing by the Stormers is exactly what is going to happen to the Lions for the entire competition. The Lions are rubbish
3 Feb 2012, 14:06 pm
@the artist formerly known as gunther-9: you think capo will switch to being a lions supporter with this news of “mongrels” at ellis park.
3 Feb 2012, 14:07 pm
@XhosaKid-27: hey don’t come and be unncecessary here…
3 Feb 2012, 14:11 pm
I see xhosakid is still licking his wounds.
3 Feb 2012, 14:11 pm
@XhosaKid-27:
Irrespective of the Lions opposition during Currie Cup 2011, they played a good brand of rugby.
3 Feb 2012, 14:12 pm
@XhosaKid-30:
Take it easy…
I doubt the Lions will finish last anyway… that will go to one of the Hurricanes or Rebels… or maybe even the Highlanders or Western Force. At a push maybe even the Brumbies.
3 Feb 2012, 14:12 pm
Capo has always preferred dogs to pussycats.
3 Feb 2012, 14:12 pm
@Transformation-31:
Coca-Cola Park.
3 Feb 2012, 14:18 pm
@Jeraldjay-34: They played a good brand of rugby against who?, you are f urken kidding me !!!!, a full strength Bulls, Stormers and Sharks playing together without an interruption from Super rugby pre-season right through to September would do the same against depleted, disrupted teams with to players out of the competition for Tr-Nations and RWC preparation, its no “rock science”.
The Lions are rubbish and will continue to be exposed as such, rubbish!!!
3 Feb 2012, 14:19 pm
@hendrikp-35: They will be last in the SA Conference. They won’t beat even the rebuilding Bulls
3 Feb 2012, 14:23 pm
@XhosaKid-38:
Did you actually watch any of the Lions games during the Currie Cup last year?
Taute, Jantjies, Minnie, Strauss, etc. were outstanding and all these players will be at the top of HM’s mind when he selects the Boks for 2012.
3 Feb 2012, 14:24 pm
Bryce was ‘the final straw’ Thu, 02 Feb 2012 23:43
There will be additional focus on the breakdown when the Super Rugby season gets underway later this month and it is being blamed on a referee.
Lions forwards coach Johan Ackermann said the breakdowns would be strictly refereed, following Kiwi referee Bryce Lawrence’s controversial handling of this aspect in the Springboks’ defeat to Australia in last year’s World Cup quarterfinal.
“That was apparently the final straw and referees were told to improve the control of the breakdowns,” Ackermann said.
Assistant referees at Super Rugby level would also be called upon to monitor the offside lines at the ruck and maul and infringements close to the touchline.
The Lions’ assistant coach said the offside line would receive greater attention from referees during this Super Rugby competition.
This year could be a deciding one for the future of the scrums as teams have been warned to straighten up this area of the game.
It is understood that referees have been told to reduce the amounts of restarts by 20 per cent or radical changes could be introduced which would change this facet of the game.
3 Feb 2012, 14:24 pm
Vok lemme duck before bullets start flying.
3 Feb 2012, 14:25 pm
katman v xhosakid
Round 1
3 Feb 2012, 14:27 pm
I was Mother Mary in Primary school Nativity Play.
Joseph was my first crush. 6 years old we were.
3 Feb 2012, 14:29 pm
@RL-41: Very worrying if the powers that be want to reduce the number of re-starts by 20%…… What is so bad about scrums and lineouts? Further proof that the Aussies want to turn the sport into rugby league….
3 Feb 2012, 14:33 pm
@Dawn-43: Nah, not worth it. Life’s too short to get involved in pissing contests with kids who make absolute predictions based on reading their morning pee foam in the toilet bowl. I’ll just wait for him to show up later in the competition and rub his wet nose in it.
3 Feb 2012, 15:12 pm
@Jeraldjay-40: Not a single Lions player is going to become a Springbok this year, I’m amazed how gullible people are, the Lions are rubbish won a CC when the Boks were out since the Tri-Nations right up until the quarters of the RWC.
3 Feb 2012, 15:14 pm
@XhosaKid-47: not even Taute?
3 Feb 2012, 15:17 pm
@>^..^< katman-46: The drubbing against the Stormers was just a dress rehearsal of whats coming when the big boys are playing, do you honestly think the lions who were well beaten by full strength Super teams suddenly became invincible during the same period the top guns were gone is just a coincidenced???.
Get real. Just watch this space, the excuses are already lined up, you guys will be blaming injuries to “key” players, “key” my behind, what is “key” about provincial journeymen. Dont make me laugh.
3 Feb 2012, 15:18 pm
@Transformation-48: Taute? ahead of who?
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