Lions grow claws, and cubs

Such has been the development of the Lions team contesting two European competitions that they now have depth they could barely have imagined two seasons ago.

Coach Ivan van Rooyen has seen his team ride an upward curve this season and their continued participation in the Challenge Cup has helped facilitate their transformation.

“They [the young players] played Currie Cup previously, now they play in the EPCR [Challenge Cup]. That’s great for our development. Instead of waiting for those two or three URC [United Rugby Championship] caps, there is a whole new vehicle.”

He conceded that the Lions are still relatively inexperienced compared to other local franchises but pointed out that while they have young players, they aren’t necessarily inexperienced.

In addition, they’ve augmented their squad with a few journeymen to lend valuable experience on and off the field.

“We were deliberate to get some of the older heads for this season. Someone like a Corné Fourie, Etienne Oosthuizen, they are a little more senior. We needed a bit of that influence, leadership and toughness in the group. In that sense we are in a better place than last year,” said the coach.

Unlike last season or the year before, there is healthy competition for places in the squad. “We really feel we’ve got a whole lot of positions where the difference between numbers one, two and three is minute. For the players it isn’t that great, but for us it is a great position to be in,” Van Rooyen said.

“It should be like that. It is healthy competition, then the follow-up is rotation. We are getting to that point where we can rotate. The last two years we only had one team to play with.

“We are getting into that position where the other SA franchises and the Irish teams are where you can pick for a specific game and recycle through your squad.”

Van Rooyen admitted that player retention has to be a key component in any successful enterprise. He explained that the Lions were able to retain about 80% of their player group this season.

As the franchise’s upward trajectory continues, their players will again be in high demand. “It is a challenge to keep them away not just from the other SA  franchises but from the pound and the yen. That is our challenge and everyone's challenge.

“The younger guys like Henco [van Wyk], Quan [Horn] and Asa [Asenathi Ntlabakanye], they’ve also promoted themselves to the regular team.”

The Lions, who come off a defeat at Montpellier last weekend, will deploy a squad resembling their best 23 for this Sunday’s Challenge Cup clash against the Ospreys at Ellis Park.

Van Rooyen, however, intimated that the players who performed well away to Perpignan and Montpellier will be rewarded this weekend.

“Squad rotation is about equally out-travelling miles. It is good for the squad in that the majority of them has now played. We took more or less the same squad to Perpignan and Montpellier and they’ve put up some great performances.

“It leaves us with good questions.”