Lions ‘roaring’ to go as coaches return

THE Lions look to be a happy bunch again. Head coach Swys de Bruin is back in charge and defence coach Joey Mongalo is calling the shots again. And, regular skipper Warren Whiteley is believed to be close to returning to action.

The past three weeks have been tough for the Lions, with De Bruin and Mongalo leaving the team’s tour of Australasia to return home for stress-related and personal matters respectively, while Whiteley has struggled with injuries this year.

After returning from a seven-week lay-off because of a chest muscle injury to captain the side to a win against the Chiefs in Hamilton in the side’s second tour match in New Zealand, Whiteley picked up a knee cartilage problem that ruled him out of the Crusaders match 10 days ago.

The Springbok No 8, however, appears to have recovered quicker than expected and was a fully active member at a Lions training session yesterday. He could even lead the side against the Waratahs when the teams meet at Ellis Park on Saturday, in the Lions’ first game back since their Australasian tour.

And how the Lions could do with Whiteley back in charge. Seasoned scrumhalf Ross Cronje, for one, believes the Lions are a different team when Whiteley is in the mix.

“He is a huge leader, one of the best out there,” said Cronje about Whiteley, who was in charge of the side in the win against the Chiefs.

“Warren’s work rate off the ball, his organising, his talking, his leadership ... it’s incredible. You do miss that (when he’s not there).

“Of course we have guys who can filled in. But, how he even gets up the next day after a game I don’t know; there’s not a fitter rugby player than him in this country.”

De Bruin will make a call tomorrow whether to back Whiteley this week or wait a further seven days. Cyle Brink, who also hurt his knee in the final tour match against the Crusaders, is fit and will feature on Saturday, and so, too specialist loosehead prop Dylan Smith.

The powerhouse front-row forward broke a cheekbone in the match against the Rebels, but he is expected to be back this week, possibly playing off the bench.

Meanwhile, Cronje and lock Marvin Orie – two of the leaders in the Lions team – spoke yesterday about having De Bruin and Mongalo back working with the team.

“Of course we missed two quality coaches on tour and that was maybe a little disruptive, but the guys who stepped in, like coach Cash (Ivan van Rooyen), did a fantastic job,” said Cronje. “He, together with the forwards and backs coaches (Philip Lemmer and Neil de Bruin) were absolute champions. It also helped that coach Swys and Joey stayed in touch with the squad (while they were back in South Africa) and they sent regular messages through to the team.”

Orie said it was “fantastic” to have De Bruin and Mongalo calling the shots again. “Coach Swys is definitely one of the most important branches in this Lions set-up, and Joey too, and it’s fantastic to have them back.”