‘Medical issue’ behind departure of Lions coach
Lions coach Swys de Bruin left New Zealand ahead of last Friday’s win over the Chiefs to seek treatment for a ‘‘personal medical issue’’, according to a South African news report.
De Bruin denied his departure was due to an alleged fallout with a Lions financial backer.
Rapport, an Afrikaans newspaper, reported that de Bruin had told his wife, Marilize, and Lions officials last Wednesday that his health had deteriorated.
Lions chief executive Rudolf Straeuli supported his return to Johannesburg.
Rapport reported that de Bruin, 59, had been suffering from ‘‘a nervous condition’’, which, it claimed, was related to the Lions’ recent Super Rugby struggles.
The SA Rugbymag.co.za website reported it had been told of ‘‘an alleged fallout between de Bruin and Lions investor Altman Allers’’.
But de Bruin told the iol.co.za website that health reasons were behind his return home.
‘‘I can guarantee you there has been no breakdown in the relationship between me and anyone in the team or at the union. There has been no interference, no-one has prescribed to me what to do, and no pressure has been put on me,’’ de Bruin said.
‘‘This is a personal matter and I am receiving professional help for it. It was our team doctor [Rob Collin], after I’d first spoken to my wife and Lions CEO Rudolf Straeuli, who actually said it would be best for me to return home. It was in my and the team’s best interests.’’
De Bruin said in Rapport: ‘‘I guarantee you 100 per cent that there is no issue between me and anyone in the team. There was no interference [in team selection] . . . It’s a personal medical issue and I’m receiving professional help.’’
Assistant coach Ivan van Rooyen oversaw the Lions’ 23-17 win over the Chiefs and will take charge for their 2018 grand final rematch with the Crusaders in Christchurch on Friday.
Straeuli, who won a Rugby World Cup gold medal with the Springboks in 1995, said at the time of de Bruin’s departure that there was ‘‘no reason for any panic’’.
He said van Rooyen had ‘‘strong leaders around him who know the team set up’’, including fit-again captain Warren Whiteley, ‘‘and we know what a good leader he is’’.
De Bruin, who began working for the Golden Lions Currie Cup team in 2013, took over as Lions’ Super Rugby head coach in 2018 after Johan Ackermann left to coach English club Gloucester.