Lions coach looks for leaders as Whiteley is ruled out again

JOHANNESBURG: Lions The Lions are looking for a new team leader after regular skipper Warren Whiteley was ruled out of action for four weeks with a knee injury.

The inspirational captain and No 8 joins flank and regular stand-in skipper Jaco Kriel on the sidelines, meaning coach Swys de Bruin has to find someone new to lead the team in the coming weeks.

Whiteley picked up the grade two posterior cruciate ligament injury in the early stages of last Saturday’s match against the Blues. It was only his fourth match back in Lions colours since hurting his groin while on Springbok duty in June last season.

Kriel, who stood in for Whiteley then as the Lions marched towards a home final, has been on the sidelines since the latter stages of last year and only last week had to undergo a second shoulder operation, ruling him out of the game for a further six months.

Now with Whiteley out De Bruin has to name a new captain for the forthcoming matches against the Sunwolves (home), Jaguares (away), Crusaders (home) and Stormers (home). That is, of course, if Whiteley is out for so long.

His options at this stage include scrumhalf Ross Cronje and flyhalf Elton Jantjies, both of whom have led the side before, but only on one or two occasions. The other option is Kwagga Smith, who has plenty of experience having played all over the world with the Sevens team, but he will shortly leave the Lions to join up with Neil Powell’s squad as they prepare for the Commonwealth Games, happening in April.

Malcolm Marx would also be an option, but so, too, Jacques van Rooyen, who has also led the Currie Cup side.

The change in captaincy compounds the problems for the Lions this week as they also have to deal with the unexpected loss suffered at the weekend against the Blues. The Lions will probably still be wondering how they gave up a 21-3 lead to lose against a side who have hardly been a consistent factor over the last few seasons.

De Bruin lamented the fact his team’s leaders – in the absence of Whiteley – failed to take charge in the latter stages of the match.

“It’s a setback,” said De Bruin about Whiteley’s injury. “Warren is one of a kind and a fantastic leader, but there are Springboks in our whole spine (hooker, No 8, scrumhalf, flyhalf and fullback) and they need to stand up. There are lots of leaders in this team.”

The only good news for the Lions, who have to hit back in style this week, is that they’re up against the Sunwolves. The men from Japan are coming off a 50-22 beating by the Sharks and before that they also lost 37-17 to the Rebels and 32-25 to the Brumbies.

It’s a big week for the Lions and how they respond this week will say a lot about their team dynamic and bounceback-ability.