Superhero jerseys might give Lions the nudge they need

I remember growing up watching the adventures of The Amazing Spider-Man on TV1.

Except, I didn’t know it as Spider-Man, but rather Rabobi – the Xhosa theme song for the show.

I was too young to find the simulcast for it and didn’t have a clue what Spider-Man was actually saying, but it made no difference.

For me, Spider-Man was Rabobi, and Rabobi was Spider-Man. In the theme song I vaguely remember there was a line of Spider-Man delivering a left-right to Dr Octopus and an uppercut knockout to the Green Goblin. But that’s about it. However, he captured the imagination because he was a superhero. And superheroes are supercool.

It’s something South African Super Rugby franchises are hoping to cash in on this season. In all the local derbies, SA teams will wear the Marvel jerseys, unless you are the Stormers, who clearly didn’t get the memo for last week’s drubbing from the Bulls at Loftus – whatever their reason. Maybe it was a good thing they didn’t wear their Thor outfits, because they were the ones that got the hammering.

Fast-forward to today and the Lions are expected to wear their new Spider-Man jerseys when they take on the Stormers at Newlands.

The cool idea is not lost on Lions skipper Warren Whiteley.

“I think it’s a really cool concept for the younger generation to get some interest in the game again,” he said. “That’s what we need. We need that at grassroots level and we need that at school level, for the kids to get excited about rugby. They see us as their heroes and to be a superhero is pretty cool.”

After three near misses over the past three seasons, where the Lions have finished as losing finalists, perhaps it’s the change they need.

Three years ago, they were outplayed by the Hurricanes in the final after four losses in the round-robin phase. In 2017, they only lost once before going down to the Crusaders at Ellis Park in the final after that Kwagga Smith red card and last year, they lost seven times before falling short against the Crusaders away in the final.

Although they played in their traditional strip against the Jaguares in Buenos Aires last week, the concept has already seen a change in fortunes, as they left with a win – something they had never achieved in the history between the two franchises.

A new season, a new strip. Could 2019 be their year? Their fans will be hoping for plenty of Lions left-rights and uppercut knockouts.

Trevor Stevens

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