The future looks bright for Whiteley’s pride ...
THE LIONS lost a third straight Super Rugby final on Saturday, this time going down 37-18 to the Crusaders in Christchurch. While the Lions were out-scored four tries to two and battled to break down the home team’s defences, there was still reason for Warren Whiteley and his team to look back at a good few months of work, writes Jacques van der Westhuyzen. Still South Africa’s best team, by far The Lions lost their 21-match unbeaten run against SA sides when they were beaten by the Sharks in Durban a few weeks ago, but Swys de Bruin and his men showed over the course of the competition that they are still this country’s top team. Bar that one defeat, they swept past all the other local teams and played the best rugby of the bunch, and scored the most tries too. For the third year in a row they flew the SA flag in the competition. The Lions can feel proud they still set the benchmark locally. They played their part in the final Sure, the Lions made mistakes in Saturday’s final, they didn’t have a Plan B when their scrum folded and rolling maul was nullified by the Crusaders, but they weren’t blown away, and actually asked plenty of their hosts’ defence. They were much-improved from their poor showing in the 2016 final in Wellington and the statistics of the match show the Lions dominated the possession and territory stakes; proof they were in the contest, but didn’t have enough arsenal to break down the best team to have played in the competition. There’s no disgrace in that.
The first blow came last year already when Johan Ackermann said he was leaving the union for a job abroad. He took his son, Ruan, with him, and not long after that Faf de Klerk left, too. Jaco Kriel didn’t play at all this year because of injury, while Courtnall Skosan, Warren Whiteley, Ross Cronje and Malcolm Marx also missed big chunks of the campaign. The squad’s depth was tested and they came out on top. Also, rookie coaches Phillip Lemmer, Joey Mongalo and Neil de Bruin fared excellently in their first season, alongside De Bruin, who took over from Ackermann.
The Lions often boast about the strength of their junior teams, who have regularly won national competitions in recent years, and these players will now take the big step up next year. Already the Lions have shown they can back the young guns; with Aphiwe Dyantyi starring this year and becoming a Springbok, Madosh Tambwe must rank as one of the most lethal finishers in SA, and then there’s exciting loose forward Hacjivah Dayimani. Marvin Orie and Kwagga Smith have become real stars, while flyhalf Shaun Reynolds looks ready to step up on a more permanent basis. And then there are all those massively talented Under-20 players, like Wandesile Simelane & Co. They’ve stayed true to themselves For six years the Lions have wanted to inspire people, thrill their fans and score tries ... and they’ve done that. And they continued to do that this season, even when there was a big shake-up in the coaching ranks. They haven’t moved away from what they believe in, and stand for, and have been outstanding ambassadors for SA. They like to refer to themselves as a “brotherhood”, and it shows in how they deal with each other, the public and even the media. They’re respectful, they play their rugby with a smile and they’re grateful for the privilege of being able to play rugby for a living.