Same old story: Lions must find a way to hang on to experienced players

It was the same old story for the Lions after a tough four-week European tour in the United Rugby Championship (URC) and Challenge Cup competitions saw them return to Johannesburg battered and bruised, with their season hanging by a thread.

A run of five losses in their last six games, across both competitions, has seen the Lions slip down the URC table, from a high of fifth in mid-December to 13th, though they did manage to qualify for the Challenge Cup knockouts after finishing third in their pool.

Despite progressing in the Challenge Cup, the Lions’ chances in both competitions look very slim, with a home playoff against French Giants Racing 92 a huge ask, while their hopes of making the URC top eight and playoffs seem to be fading fast.

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The most experienced member of the Lions squad, 38-year-old Willem Alberts, highlighted the lack of experience in the rest of the young team as a major factor in their recent struggles, especially overseas.

“I think we didn’t have enough experience on tour. There are still a lot of young guys among the players and coaching staff that are new to European conditions. So that is something to learn from and we just have to be better next time,” said Alberts.

“The biggest lessons we can take is that you have to be able to play good rugby week in and week out, and you must be able to adapt to your training and playing conditions, especially with having to play on artificial surfaces.”

Moving on

Alberts is of course spot on with the experience problem, but it is one that the Lions have to face every season as they fail to hold onto their best players.

Every season new players shine at the union, and then move onto bigger teams, with the higher ups at the Lions seemingly unable to hold onto their star players.

Since their heyday of the mid-2010s, when they reached three Super Rugby finals in a row, the Lions have seen an endless stream of their best and most experienced playing personnel moving on to greener pastures.

This was shown once again after their inaugural URC campaign last year, when their captain Burger Odendaal left for Wasps, star loose forward Vincent Tshituka and number one prop Carlu Sadie left for the Sharks, and centre star Wandisile Simelane left for the Bulls.

If the Lions are unable to salvage some sort of pride over the rest of the season, in the URC and Challenge Cup campaigns, they may once again find themselves in a fight to keep a hold of their best developing players.

Players such as flyhalf Jordan Hendrikse, centre Henco van Wyk and loose forwards Emmanuel Tshituka and Ruan Venter, among others, will all be very enticing prospects for other teams.

Along with the question of how much more veterans like Alberts and Jaco Kriel have left in the tank, the Lions could fast find themselves back at square one, with the same old story.