Lions should be used to empty stands

Without having anything to watch, the sports jokes have been flying in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

A favourite has been that the Lions shouldn’t be affected by playing behind closed doors, because they are used to empty stands anyway.

But jokes aside, it is clear that whatever they have been doing thus far in their campaign has not been working. And continuing their horrendous form while feeding their fans with the “we are learning” excuse, will definitely empty the stands in no time should Super Rugby resume.

Maybe supporters used to mediocrity are more willing to accept a diet of tasteless beef chuck stew every weekend, but for a crowd treated to prime sirloin for an extended period such as the Ellis Park faithful were, it is way less tolerable. Rightfully, they are demanding immediate action.

A dip in fortune was always expected after the glorious run of reaching three consecutive finals from 2016 to 2018. Coaches Johan
Ackermann and Swys de Bruin left the franchise along with a host of players that contributed heavily to their success.

And yet, even after a mediocre campaign in 2019 compared to their high standards of the previous three seasons, the Lions still managed to be in contention for the play-offs up until the last round and managed to win half of their 16 matches.

It was sort of acceptable for a team considered to be in a building phase, but from there they should have gone up again and not hit rock bottom.

Surely they had the financial means to assist them after all the revenue secured from hosting seven playoff matches over three years and with the backing of the Emirates sponsorship?

Instead of investing some of that cash in quality players in the local Super Rugby system, they contracted two questionable pensioners in Jannie du Plessis and Willem Alberts.

Instead of hiring experienced coaches, they promoted Ivan van Rooyen from fitness trainer to coach and surrounded him by even more inexperienced backroom staff like Julian Redelinghuys and Warren Whiteley.

While I’m not doubting their potential, but they also need older heads around them.

Opting for inexperience perhaps explains the persistent rumours there is serious meddling in coaching affairs from the boardroom.

If so, the coronavirus isn’t the only toxic threat to Ellis Park.

Jaco van der Merwe is The Citizen’s Head of Sport.

For more sport your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.