Lions hoping Gianni Lombard can stay injury free: ‘He can be electric and exciting’

A big plus for the Lions in their solid 30-23 United Rugby Championship (URC) win over the Stormers last weekend was the performance of much maligned utility back Gianni Lombard.

Lombard was a school boy prodigy and destined for greatness, coming through the much vaunted Paarl Boys High first team, before he went on to play for the SA U18s and the Junior Springboks at two World Championships.

He made his Lions debut in 2018 at the age of 20, and his international Lions debut in 2019 during Super Rugby at 21, but suffered a serious ACL knee ligament injury against the Chiefs in April of that year, ruling him out of action for the rest of the season.

Having returned to the Lions fold towards the end of a Covid disrupted 2020, Lombard was struck by another major ACL injury in a match against the Bulls, this time to his other knee, putting him on the sidelines once again for an extended period.

Short term move

To aid his recovery Lombard made a short term move to Japan to join former Lions coach Johan Ackermann at Red Hurricanes, where he went through rehab and played in a few games for the club.

He then returned to the Lions towards the end of 2022, and made a fantastic comeback at the start of the URC that year, with him sneaking ahead of regular flyhalf Jordan Hendrikse for a spell, before he once again hit a road block.

Since then, due to various lesser injuries, indifferent form, and a very competitive department with Hendrikse and Sanele Nohamba preferred at flyhalf, and Quan Horn at fullback, Lombard has played sporadically over the past few seasons.

This season the Lions have struggled with the flyhalf position, after Hendrikse left for the Sharks at the end of last season and Nohamba’s form dropped and he was released from his contract early to go play in Japan.

Young Kade Wolhutter made a sprightly start to the season in the flyhalf jersey, but he has been injury prone, which has led to inexperienced 21-year-old Sam Francis having to step into the breach in some massive games.

However, 27-year-old Lombard has now emerged as another major option for the Lions at flyhalf, and although he struggled off the bench against the Bulls a few weeks ago, he showed what he can do in getting a start against the Stormers.

Nervous start

He looked nervous at first, making a few early errors in the match, while he also made a hash of a few early clearances. But he steadily grew into the game, showing his impressive skills on attack, sorted out his kicking out of hand, and crucially nailed all six of his kicks at goal for a strong showing all round.

Speaking after the match, Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen said he was thrilled to have Lombard back and that this may be his best chance of getting himself back to his previous level of form, seen during the early part of his career.

“It (his performance) was a big positive. He’s been unlucky with the timing of his niggles and injuries. So he would play two or three games and then get a niggle and miss out again,” explained Van Rooyen

“So to see Gianni play like that is the Gianni that the world needs to see. He is that kind of player, that can be electric and really exciting.

“But what I am most impressed with is that his fundamentals were good. His kicking for goal was good. His organisation and decision making was good. Especially with that one try where the instinct could have been to kick it because there was a lot of space there, but he didn’t.

“He brings a strong element to the team and hopefully we can keep him injury free and get some good games out of him.”

Lombard will wear the No 10 on his back again on Saturday when the Lions face the Bulls at Loftus in the second cross-Jukskei derby of the season.