Lions see, hear no evil amid din over Ivan van Rooyen’s suitability

In the 1996 movie The Ghost and the Darkness thorn bush barriers are erected to keep man-eating lions out of a camp.

The under-siege Lions at Ellis Park are doing it the other way by trying to insulate themselves from the increasing din that has erupted about head coach Ivan van Rooyen's continued suitability for the job.

Mathematically it is still possible but the Lions are to all intents and purposes out of top eight reach for the fourth straight season in the United Rugby Championship (URC). Van Rooyen has presided over the Lions for their entire existence in that competition and they are yet to reach a quarterfinal.

Yet, from within, and this is understandable due to contraction obligation, there is the preference to see no evil, hear no evil.

Surely though, the outside voices of discontent must have reached the ears of those inside the cavernous Ellis Park Stadium?

“To be honest, when it is not going so well, you stay away as far as possible,” said the Lions’ Springbok scrumhalf Morné van den Berg. “You don’t want those things to get into your mind.”

Bad news, however, has a way of travelling distances far greater than originally intended.

“But then it does filter through somehow, so you always hear it — somebody calling you, saying, ‘what is going on there?’” Van den Berg conceded.

“We know what is going on in the camp. We know the type of men who are leading us.

“We know who ‘Cash’ [van Rooyen] is, what he stands for, and I am willing to fight for that,” the scrumhalf jumped to the defence of the coach.

“I am willing to fight for each and every coach, each and every player, and the beautiful thing is, they are willing to fight for us. So there is always going to be noise, and at this stage, it is loud.

“But inside here, in the union, we are tight and we are strong and we are willing to fight for each other. And I think that is the most important part of it.”

That kind of bellicose talk will have to be actioned on Saturday if the voices of discontent are to come down a decibel or two.

Connacht, their opponents on Saturday are two places better off on the log. Though Connacht have won just five of their 15 league matches thus far and the Lions six, the visitors looked an accomplished side when they scared the living daylights out of Stormers in Cape Town last weekend.

The tourists, even by Stormers director of rugby John Dobson’s admission, should have won that game.

And while the defeat to Benetton was only the Lions’ second at home this season, a fifth consecutive loss in all competition is weighing heavy in the beleaguered team.

If last week’s match against Benetton was a visit to the Last Chance Saloon, their losing bonus point has given them temporary clemency earning them the right this weekend to one for the road in Tombstone.

Outside the vultures are circling and the undertakers are swigging near the swinging doors. The Lions may yet emerge from Saturday’s match barely standing in the URC but those who have watched them this season are by now thoroughly punch drunk.