Lions extend Jaque Fourie’s contract, uncertainty over Ivan van Rooyen

The Lions are in the middle of an important contract saga as they try to secure the senior team’s future by extending the contracts of key coaching staff and playing personnel.

Lions CEO Rudolf Straeuli chaired a question and answer session on the state of the Lions at Ellis Park on Friday afternoon, and was quizzed on a number of aspects of the team and coaching staff, with many contracts set to expire later this year.

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With rumours suggesting that Lions head coach Ivan van Rooyen has been offered a two year contract extension that was set to make him one of the highest paid coaches in the country, Straeuli refused to give any particulars apart from admitting defence coach Jaque Fourie had extended his contract with the Lions.

“We are in contract talks and it is highly confidential. We are busy looking into our budget as well as extending the contracts of players, coaches and staff,” said Straeuli.

“It is an ongoing process and as soon as a contract has been extended, it will be announced. So far we have extended the contract of Jaque Fourie for another two years.”

Difficult few months

It has been a difficult past two months for the Lions, who in early December were sitting fifth on the United Rugby Championship (URC) log and well on course for a top eight finish.

However, a poor run of form, which saw them lose five of their last six games, across the URC and Challenge Cup competitions, has seen them slip to 12^th on the URC table and set them up with a last 16 Challenge Cup clash with French giants Racing 92.

“We are happy with where we are in the Challenge Cup. We have set the goal of getting into the top eight of the URC. So we have to win the following games at home,” admitted Staeuli.

“Collectively, we are not happy with our results on the recent tour. However, there were difficult conditions and it is unfair to single out one tour, as we went unbeaten on the first tour earlier in the season.

“We play Racing 92 soon in the Challenge Cup. We know what we have to change to get success. We are comfortable that we are going in the right direction.”

Ivan van Rooyen

In terms of coach Van Rooyen, Straueli said that the Lions management is comfortable with the direction the team is heading under his leadership, despite having a 39% win ratio since being named head coach in 2019.

“It’s hard to single out any one coach or person. We have confidence in him (Van Rooyen) and we have invested in him as a young coach,” said Straeuli.

“Everyone has KPIs and we are in the process of achieving those. Ivan still has a year on his contract. We are confident that in the following games that we will reach the targets set out for him.”