Franco the new lion king
DE BRUIN: MOSTERT’S PROMOTION IS WELL-DESERVED Coach rests four of his top players ahead of Argentina trip.
Lions coach Swys de Bruin said naming of lock Franco Mostert as the captain for tomorrow’s Super Rugby clash against the Sunwolves at Ellis Park was “an easy decision” in the end.
Mostert takes over from the injured No 8 Warren Whiteley, while De Bruin has made several rotational changes ahead of their taxing trip to Buenos Aires next week.
“It was very easy, five years back we started with Franco from Tukkies and he is one of those guys who simply says ‘come guys, follow me’.
“He is a very inspirational leader, he runs the lineouts in any case and he is in our leadership group and with Elton’s (Jantjies) back-up as the Bok No 10, it’s really an easy transition and well-deserved,” said De Bruin.
Mostert said he was humbled to take over from Whiteley, who gave him a few words of inspiration this week.
“I’m very sad that ‘Wazza’ got hurt, but I’m honoured to take over from him. He helped a lot this week, he just told me to stay relaxed, saying it wouldn’t impact on my game at all,” said Mostert.
De Bruin said they closed the book on the Blues defeat at 12pm on Monday and stressed he doesn’t even want to hear the word “underestimate” when it comes to the Sunwolves. He has rested four of his top players, while naming young Len Massyn as No 8, while moving centre Rohan Janse van Rensburg out to the wing.
“We are resting a few guys,” said De Bruin. “It’s a tough trip to Argentina next week and when the guys come back we have to recover quickly for the Crusaders
“So the idea was to rest Jacques van Rooyen, Andries Ferreira, Cyle Brink and Ruan Dreyer ... all part of the plan ahead.”
De Bruin said he was very excited to give Massyn his chance at No 8.
“Len is one of our youngsters from Monnas, he is a bit in the mould of a old Pedrie Wannenburg. He is a leader and understands the game. He did very well at age group level, so he deserves a chance,” he said.
“With Rohan, he played wing over in England and the try he scored against the Blues was from the right-hand side, but it’s not the reason why we are picking him there.
“In the modern game, many 13s can play 14, we have guys who can play 9, 10 and 15, Elton can play 12 any time, if you’re a footballer you can slot in anywhere,” said De Bruin.