Swys tells the Kiwis to stop ‘moaning’

Lions coach Swys de Bruin has brushed off criticism from some quarters in New Zealand that they don’t deserve the rosy position they find themselves in in this year’s Super Rugby campaign.

The tournament’s skewed conference system means that the men from Ellis Park finished above teams like the Hurricanes (51) and Chiefs (49) despite having inferior log points (46).

In fact, they only finished with two log points more than the Highlanders.

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VIDEO: Coach Swys de Bruin on how the side silenced critics in terms of their game-plan being all about style and little substance.

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The Lions also lost to underachieving sides such as the Blues and Reds during the regular season.

While De Bruin will be the first to acknowledge that the Lions have been inconsistent in 2018, he’s unapologetic about his side’s progression.

“That’s their perception. All I can tell you is that we never moan about travelling for four weeks,” he said on Thursday, ahead of Saturday’s semifinal at home against the Waratahs.

“We travel for four weeks, the New Zealand sides travel two. Go look it up. It’s a hell of a difference. It’s really a case of just getting on with it for me.”

The Lions mentor also believes a blame culture is starting to emerge.

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“I’m sorry I’ve actually said this because now I feel like I’m moaning, but hell, sport is supposed to be an interesting thing,” said De Bruin.

“It can’t always be the fault of the ref, or this or that or the competition format or injuries. All you can do is handle the hand that you’ve been dealt.”

He does feel strongly though that the travelling component of the tournament structure needs to change.

“Obviously we want that to change. As sportsmen, we want the fairest system. If we can travel two games and they can travel two games, then it will be great,” said De Bruin.

“We want strength-versus-strength, a fair deal with the refs and so on. Any sport would. The fairer the deal, the better for everyone.

“Every time I read something out of New Zealand, I read about these issues. It would be nice to read about something else for a change.”

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