Saru must end Lions’ misery
30 Apr 2012
MARK KEOHANE, in his weekly Business Day column, says the Lions don’t deserve to play Super Rugby next year.
What now for the Lions? What now for coach John Mitchell and a franchise that surely has no right to a Super Rugby hand out in 2013?
The South African Rugby Union wizards who will determine the Lions’ future Super Rugby participation need to show some compassion and end the misery.
Why continue with the illusion that the Lions belong in Super Rugby? Kill this once mighty beast now. Make the right decision and send the Lions back to the Vodacom Cup.
The regression of the Lions has been gradual all tournament, but against the Brumbies the capitulation was spectacular.
I picked them to beat the Brumbies in Johannesburg. The squad had enjoyed a bye weekend and many had experienced their first interaction with Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer.
The response to the Bok coach’s comforting words and a weekend off was an up yours to Mitchell and the loyal Lions fans.
Most damning though was the absolute disregard for each other. This mob played like the losers their league position suggests and whereas in the past there has always been courage and fight in defeat, there was nothing of the sort to soften the blow of their most embarrassing defeat of the year.
Captain Josh Strauss’s post-match summary was equally embarrassing. The Lions did not lose because of a lack of concentration and there was absolutely nothing to be proud of on the night.
When the Lions won the Currie Cup in 2011 there were outrageous boasts that they would be a contender for the Super Rugby title and some fools were adamant they’d win the South African conference.
I could understand this misguided optimism among supporters if these plodders were playing in the northern section of the Vodacom Cup, but they have never threatened to do anything but finish in the bottom two of Super Rugby – and this season is simply consistent with a dismal last five years in which the Lions have won less than 20% of their tournament matches.
The Lions played like second-rate rugby citizens who didn’t believe they could beat a team high on confidence but no better in terms of overall quality.
There is no excuse for the manner of defeat; only disappointment and disgust.
The opposite is true of the Stormers, who won for the third time in four matches in Australasia and relied on the stingiest defence in the tournament to defy the Force in Perth.
The Stormers have conceded just nine tries in nine matches and this is on par with their defensive record in 2010 and 2011. It is a remarkable defensive statistic and while the attack is unremarkable (not one four-try bonus point in nine matches) the resolve and mental toughness of this side cannot be overstated.
The Stormers, like every other team, have been decimated by injury but it has never been used as an excuse and while their win against the Reds in Brisbane was their best of the tournament, the result in Perth was as good.
The Force are an average side, but weather conditions and the circumstance of so many injuries made for a demanding final tour match.
The Stormers were missing seven of the team that started the tournament and yet they played with the discipline of the best Stormers XV. They had composure, resolve and an inspiring respect for the basics of the game. This is a team that prides itself on fighting for each other. This is a team that commands respect and it is also a team that understands the most telling performance is the most recent.
It is also a team with a winning culture, which makes it easier for any youngster to step in and step up to the challenge. The opposite is true in Johannesburg where every player knows there is an 80% chance of defeat.
The Stormers currently represent everything you want in the psyche of the team. The Lions unfortunately don’t.
The Cheetahs completed the South African Super Rugby misery with a spectacular implosion against the Highlanders. It was a result that seemed impossible at 30-9.
But clearly, outside of the Lions winning, nothing is impossible in a tournament that does reward attack but also demands commitment on defence.
540 Comments
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30 Apr 2012, 19:36 pm
@Dawn(Dawn)-491: Why? We all have prejudiced traits deeply rooted or imbedded in our subconscious mind.
30 Apr 2012, 19:37 pm
@Robzim(Robzim)-495:
very cool story bud…
30 Apr 2012, 19:40 pm
@ufo(ufo)-500:
No one is talking Bok material just yet. Just saying that he rose to the occasion in a young and very inexperienced Stormers loose trio. The Stormers have been heavily criticised in the past for the lack of depth but things seem to be coming right. The investment in the youngsters is starting to pay dividends.
30 Apr 2012, 19:41 pm
Am kidding man
I would never do that
30 Apr 2012, 19:46 pm
@IAAS(I am a stormer)-503:
apologies bud.. didn’t mean you… just in the euphoria of the win on saturday several fans were suggesting he should be a bok… so just clearing that up before others go overboard suggesting we are saying that…
i agree with everything you say about him… i rate him highly…
i first saw him in a VC cup game last year… didn’t know who he was but he was looking very good… so was asking people around me ‘who is that guy in the white headgear?’… eventually someone a few rows in front stands up and says that’s nizaam carr… watch him…
i said i am already…!!
30 Apr 2012, 19:59 pm
@ufo(ufo)-505:
not that i’m suggesting he shouldn’t or won’t… just now immediately… let him gain experience over the next few years…
also, as you say… the investment in youngsters is paying off now…
credit to rassie for putting the systems in place…
credit to allister for signing them up…
also huge kudos to allister for instilling what is very obviously a superb sense of camaraderie and playing for each other in the squad… very cool to see…
30 Apr 2012, 20:00 pm
just now immediately = just NOT immediately
30 Apr 2012, 20:01 pm
@ufo(ufo)-505:
Must tell you a funny story. Was watching the game at a pub here in jozi. And the subject of ref indiscretions came up particularly when Peyper – a saffa – was the ref. From a one-eyed Bull supporter that is. Peyper then missed a Joe Pietersen knock-on. With possession given to the Stormers.
So i commented about the knock-on Jonker missed in the Bulls v Brumbies game where CJ Stander scored. And that I said. He replied ” I was sitting in the oos paviljoen and it defintely went backwards.”
I can kick myself for not asking his name. Am still convinced it was Tac.
30 Apr 2012, 20:11 pm
@IAAS(I am a stormer)-508:
hehehe…
we all see what we want to see i guess…
i mean bryan scored a great try on saturday didn’t he…
doesn’t tacitus live in PE…? or thereabouts…?
but seriously… the reffing (from all 3 countries) is really detracting from the rugby which is a great pity…
30 Apr 2012, 20:13 pm
anyway…
i’m out for the night… cool chatting IAAS, stormersboy, rob, stormerforlife1, dawn
be good…
30 Apr 2012, 20:16 pm
@ufo(ufo)-510:
cheers mate.
30 Apr 2012, 20:21 pm
@IAAS(I am a stormer)-493: Well everyone else apart from me is obviously onto this oke.
Good for him.
I hope he’s the business.
30 Apr 2012, 20:22 pm
@ufo(ufo)-509: Cheers bro.
30 Apr 2012, 20:23 pm
@IAAS(I am a stormer)-508: LOL tac is in the Eastern Cape.
But no doubt you’ll get no shortage of those types at Loftus.
30 Apr 2012, 20:47 pm
Let’s not condemn the Lions. Their can be some pride in relegation. The season is not yet over.
30 Apr 2012, 20:55 pm
Houston.Not even a single “men a plenty”
Regards
30 Apr 2012, 21:13 pm
Dawn.467.The laconic exterminator a la John Wayne more appropriate.
Regards.Time for toppies to la la.
30 Apr 2012, 22:11 pm
John Wayne pffft.
Schwarzenegger.
I’ll be back.
30 Apr 2012, 23:14 pm
Meanwhile over in Manchester. . .
1 May 2012, 03:23 am
@IAAS(I am a stormer)-508: I looked at that incident over and over again in slow motion- it DID go backwards!
1 May 2012, 06:12 am
Such a dumb thread ????
So the kings will do better than the Lions?? or another Aussie team???
Just dump the Lions, who have had injuries and some bad luck, for the Kings?
So the Kings will be 4 games into the 2013 season and would have lost all 4 games by 30 – 50 points and everyone will be crying for the Lions again.
And everyone would have said they should not have been replaced by Kings
including you Mark
1 May 2012, 06:26 am
Mark its like having kiwi fans wanting the Blues out of the super 15 comp
They at bottom of the table too and are playing kuk
No one would ever even suggest the Blues been bumped out of the comp.
So why are you all over the Lions (who are not that bad )
Come on man, support your south african teams
1 May 2012, 06:35 am
There isn’t a better team out there to replace them, so cut them and the Rebels and the Blues, and trim the comp or live with the fact that every tournament had its cellar dwellers and the wheel will continue to turn.
1 May 2012, 06:36 am
@CoachPete(CoachPete)-522:
Coach, the difference is that the Blues have done well in the past and the Lions have never finished above 3rd last in the last 11 years.
Ultimately though, saru yet again hit rock bottom and did what they always do…they started digging!
1 May 2012, 06:40 am
@Slartibartfast(Slartibartfast)-524:
Yes true but the kings? lets face it are they going to be any better??
When they get the **** kicked out of them, what then ???
10 times more embarrassing
1 May 2012, 06:46 am
@CoachPete(CoachPete)-525:
I am partly with you Coach but the Lions are not doing them or us any favours. Did you see the game on the weekend, it was the worst performance I have seen from any super team in a very long time? Their defence was non-existant and the few late tries gave a false picture of what happened for the majority of the 80 minutes.
1 May 2012, 06:52 am
@Slartibartfast(Slartibartfast)-526:
Yes i did and yes they seemed dis interested
Maybe a Cheetahs and Lions merge to the Cats again
At least 4 decent SA teams
Kings are Kuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuk
1 May 2012, 07:08 am
@CoachPete(CoachPete)-527:
No man Coach, not the Cats again! It did not work before and it is not going to work if they try it again, there is zero support from either side for such a mongrel…
If any ‘merger’ should happen logic tells you it should be the Lions and Bulls, they are 50 kays apart whilst Jhb and Bloem is 400 kays apart. Reality is that will never happen either, unless the Lions give up and the Bulls just use them as a feeder union…again very slim chance of that happening!
So we stuck with 6 into 5 for a year or so.
1 May 2012, 07:53 am
Mark Keohane getting owned! http://www.rugbybanter.com/1/post/2012/04/dear-mark.html#comments
1 May 2012, 08:00 am
Here’s the article
In his recent article entitled “SARU must end Lions’ misery” (30 Apr 2012) – Mark Keohane is at pains to describe to any willing reader (and I can’t imagine there’s many left) that the Lions team is a misfit collective of rugby outcasts who aren’t fit to participate in the Southern Hemisphere’s premier competition as they are, in his words “playing like second-rate rugby citizens”.
I’ve held my tongue throughout the Luke Watson debate, I have not said a word throughout the outrage surrounding the purported link between you and your HSM company and their links to the Kings, Luke Watson and other stake holders who will all benefit from the Kings’ participation in Super Rugby next season.
Well Mark, here goes mate:
In the article you boldly state that the Lions surely have “no right to a Super Rugby hand out in 2013” – fair point Mark, I agree with you 100%. In fact, I agree with you whole heartedly. No team should be given a hand out to play in Super Rugby, not the Bulls, not the Cheetahs, Stormers nor Lions. But yet somehow you have been advocating for the team who has received the worst hand out of all: The Kings.
Hypocrisy, thy name is you.
You cite the Lions’ poor performance in Super Rugby as the basis for these claims, and there’s no doubt, even in the minds of the most ardent Lions supporters, that the Lions have underachieved in Super Rugby. There’s no getting away from that, and I’m not writing to be a Lions cheerleader either, so there’s no arguing there Mark.
The argument comes in here though. The player troubles at the Lions has been well documented, playing with no Springboks (except Butch James, which makes the situation worse as was proven this weekend) and losing players at regular intervals to other unions, the player turnaround has been extraordinary in recent times. But the fact remains that the Lions remains the entry point for many players, the place for professionals with no other real first team options, the place for the big 3’s fringe players to become starters. And yet they struggle.
The simple fact is that no team, even the struggling Lions, want any of the Kings players. And there’s a bloody good reason for that (as I’ll explain below), yet you, Mark, are of the opinion that these guys are the real deal, the saviors of South Africa’s blushes in Super Rugby, the men to finally drag an SA team out of the bottom 2. Bolloks.
The Lions compete in the Vodacom Cup as well, lest we forget. And yes Mark, so do the Kings. So while you enjoy throwing around statistics and numbers, afford me the opportunity to do the same.
The Lions, for all their woes, and even with their horrendous injury list, finished 4th in the North Section of the Vodacom Cup. And let’s get one thing clear, a Vodacom Cup side of a Super Rugby union is anything but a straight second team. While on tour Super Rugby sides have squads of 28 – 30, add say 5 injuries per squad (tad optimistic but ill humor you) and at best a Vodacom Cup side plays with numbers 36 and onwards, with their own injury problems to worry about.
Yet your beloved ‘we have a Super Rugby hand out’ Kings, with their top players – that’s from number 1 Mark – only managed to finish 3rd in the South section. Yet you want us to believe that they will do better? You want to convince the rugby public that the Kings are quality; that they have got it together, that they’ll be competitive. Surly a team that is set to compete in Super Rugby as is should be dominant against 2nd rate sides?
Next Super Rugby heroes Mark? Just who do you think you’re kidding?
The question is as obvious as your bias: Just what the bloody hell makes you think the Kings can do any better than the Lions? Their player base is subpar, and while they have money (as I’m told you are well aware of) they can’t go out and buy a team in a few months.
The premise of your entire argument for the Lions to be kicked out is that they are not competitive, that they don’t win enough matches to justify their participation in Super Rugby. And while there’s no arguing the Lions have been poor, there’s one hell of an argument to suggest that the Kings, at best, won’t do any better – and at worst will become the whipping boys of 2013, and while I’m as loyal as any red blooded South African rugby supporter, I will revel in their misery, I will take delight from their pain, and you, Mark, are the one to blame.
Time alone will prove me right or wrong, I know which side my money is on, and I know where yours is too, so to speak.
1 May 2012, 08:56 am
BLUE LABEL 530
Excellent article.Regards.
1 May 2012, 09:32 am
@Blue Label(Blue Label)-530: Keo’s campaign against the Lions/for the Kings is embarrassingly and shamelessly transparent.
Only his videos make me cringe more.
1 May 2012, 09:52 am
@Blue Label(Blue Label)-530: Nice one.
SAVE THE LIONS!
FCK THE HSM KINGS!
PANSI CHEEKY!
PHAMBILI MITCH!
BEPA KEO!
BEPA THE PUKE!
1 May 2012, 10:10 am
So Keo is now the Watson family ******. One minute backing the lions and the next minute stabbing them in the back. The fact of the matter is that the Kings are third in the southern division and have no claim to super rugby whatsoever. The current lions team would put 100 on the kings the fact that Keo ignores this suggests that his cheekies are filled with Watson dna.
1 May 2012, 10:17 am
Where has Puke been in the last couple of Kings games?
1 May 2012, 10:29 am
When is Jurie Roux going down under for that meeting? He must have a few tricks up his sleeve…
1 May 2012, 11:37 am
@JEZ(DEE DAH)-534: Lets not forget that a pre-season (with fewer injuries) the Lions thrashed the Kings 88 – 0……
No more needs to be said….
1 May 2012, 11:38 am
But telling that to Keo and his ingrewn toenail (Ryan) is like pi$$ing against the wind….
1 May 2012, 12:56 pm
@Blue Label(Blue Label)-538: Watch the Stormers, Bulls, Saders & Chiefs all put 100 over those clowns next year if they get promoted……
6 May 2012, 10:59 am
This is the Lions 22 that played in the Currie Cup final against the Sharks.
Golden Lions:
15 Jaco Taute, 14 Deon van Rensburg, 13 Doppies la Grange, 12 Alwyn Hollenbach, 11 Michael Killian, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Michael Bondesio, 8 Joshua Strauss (captain), 7 Michael Rhodes, 6 Derick Minnie, 5 Franco van der Merwe, 4 Wikus van Heerden, 3 Patric Cilliers, 2 Bandise Maku, 1 CJ Van der Linde
Substitutes: 16 Martin Bezuidenhout, 17 Jacobie Adriaanse/JC Janse van Rensburg, 18 Warren Whiteley, 19 Cobus Grobbelaar/Jaco Kriel, 20 Butch James, 21 Dylan des Fountain, 22 James Kamana
The Sharks were represented by :
Sharks:
15. Patrick Lambie, 14. Odwa Ndungane, 13. Stefan Terblanche, 12. Marius Joubert, 11. JP Pietersen, 10. Frederic Michalak, 9. Conrad Hoffmann, 8. Ryan Kankowski, 7. Willem Alberts, 6. Keegan Daniel (captain), 5. Ross Skeate, 4. Jean Deysel, 3. Jannie du Plessis, 2. Bismarck du Plessis, 1. Tendai Mtawarira
Substitutes: 16. Craig Burden, 17. Eugene van Staden, 18. Alistair Hargreaves, 19. Marcell Coetzee, 20. Ross Cronje, 21. Adrian Jacobs, 22. Lwazi Mvovo
Now count the number of Sharks Springboks and yet they were beaten
comprehesively 42-16.
So what went wrong for the Lions.Rugby is played by 22 players combined
in the right combinations.You can neutralise single players but combinations
are always able to to run the game to their advantage.So what must happen is
not to ban the Lions but to put a cap on what Unions can spent on player
acquisitions and the number of transfers.
The second step is to ban politics and biased writers like Keo from rugby
commentary.Third step ,get uniform contracts and transfer fees set up.
Forget about the professional bulshitt theme that bedevils our rugby.
Fourth step put more money into the development of smaller unions.
South Africa needs strong feeder provinces and cannot allow bigger provinces to strangle the development of smaller Unions by bigger
Unions luring their promising players away by the simple fact that they
have more money to spend.
5th Step, Saru to contract all super 15 players and make certain that
an adequate player distribution take place.It absolute bullshit that Unions
like the Sharks have the luxury to omit two Springboks acquired at high
cost and at the expense of smaller Unions,from their starting 22 because their coach reckons they are not up to scratch.
The Lions were the first Union ever to win a Super Rugby title and this once
proud Union’s Administration has been bedeviled by politics and CEOS
more interested in their own concerns well being.
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