Lions’ backup brigade coming to the fore: ‘We’ve shown growth,’ says happy coach

The Lions’ backup brigade have impressed in recent weeks and were firmly to the fore in their brilliant 38-14 United Rugby Championship (URC) thrashing of the Sharks at Ellis Park over the past weekend.

Where the Lions often fall short over the other South African franchises is their lack of depth, but that is something they have been able to address over the past season.

Leading up to the Sharks game the Lions lost two of their best players, fullback Quan Horn and centre Henco van Wyk, and in previous seasons this would have been a hammer blow to the team.

Add to that another key player in Ruan Venter going off early in the match and the Lions would usually have had their backs firmly up against the wall.

Stepping up

However, in stepped Tapiwa Mafura at fullback, Manuel Rass at centre and Sibabalo Qoma at flank, and they showed how impressive the Lions’ current depth is with strong showings. Rass was also named man-of-the-match after a terrific outing.

“Because of the competition structure and time and length and challenges, we said from day one that it’s going to be a massive squad effort,” explained Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen after the match.

“Losing guys like Quan and Henco who against the Stormers and Bulls (in the previous two matches) have been really world class (was a blow). Ruan Venter was the same in those two games.

“Seeing Manie (Rass) train the way he is, we’re not surprised that he’s playing this way. He’s an absolute machine when it comes to training.

“I’m really happy for Tapiwa, he had a really great game. Siba (Qoma) went through one or two challenges with injury, but he’s back after two to three weeks, training well, playing well. I’m really proud of their effort and the squad is growing in terms of consistency.

“We can feel the squad is growing in terms of when this player is injured then it’s time for the next one to step up. I think we’ve shown a bit of growth there as well.”

Gianni Lombard

Flyhalf Gianni Lombard has also been a bit of a revelation for the Lions over the past month, and he is now firmly the first choice flyhalf at the union.

It is unfair to call him part of the backup brigade, but in previous seasons, and over the first half of the current campaign, he has largely been on the fringes.

This season the Lions started by backing Kade Wolhuter as the starting flyhalf, with Sanele Nohamba as the backup, while Sam Francis has had a run, and even scrumhalf Nico Steyn played a couple of games in the number 10 jersey.

But Wolhuter has fallen out of favour, Nohamba was released from his contract early to go to Japan, Francis is still young and has taken a back seat, and Steyn is the preferred halfback replacement on the bench as he covers both positions.

This opened the door for Lombard to step in off the bench against the Bulls in late January, and although he put in a nervy showing, he was backed to start against the Stormers and hasn’t looked back, putting in three solid performances, including in the following games against the Bulls at Loftus and Sharks.

“He’s got a bit of confidence currently. You can see it, you can feel it. He’s that kind of player,” said Van Rooyen.