As reported yesterday, Dick Muir has made some expected changes to the Lions team to face the Brumbies, but he has gone much further than that…. there are 8 changes in the side in total. Only time will tell whether this is folly or a masterstroke of genius from Dick Muir.
At fullback Michael Killian gets a run in the place of Earl Rose, who is relegated to the bench.
Wandile Mjekevu, the speedy wing, is replaced with Dusty Noble.
Walter Venter replaces the injured Deon van Rensburg at outside centre.
At Flyhalf, Burton Francis gets his 1st Super 14 start, replacing Carlos Spencer, who apparently carries a slight injury and who is bracketed on the bench with Mjekevu.
At scrumhalf Dick Muir is persisting with JP Joubert in stead of opting for Jacques Coetzee, who has clearly been the better form scrumhalf.
As far as the forwards is concerned, Willem Stoltz regains his place in the lock position after serving out his suspension.
The real shocker however comes in the form of a fully rotated front row, where Kevin Buys, Charles Emslie and JC Janse van Rensburg replaces last week’s front row…. Heinke van der Merwe is relegated to the bench to cover both loosehead and tighthead prop positions.
One cannot help but question the wholesale changes made and it unfortunately leads me to believe that another very long afternoon of rugby awaits Lions supporters, against a Brumbies team who suddenly have their tails in the air. The questions already asked is whether Dick Muir is at panic stations, and whether he truly knows who his best 15 players are… I would hazard a guess that the answer is yes, Dick is already at panic station one and no, Dick certainly does not know who his best 15 are yet.
Despite the negativity the Lions and their supporters bring on themselves, we certainly hope they prove us wrong and win on the weekend.
The full side is as follows:
Lions: 15 Michael Killian, 14 Tonderai Chavhanga, 13 Walter Venter, 12 Doppies La Grange, 11 Dusty Noble, 10 Burton Francis, 9 JP Joubert, 8 Todd Clever, 7 Derick Minnie, 6 Cobus Grobbelaar (c), 5 George Earle, 4 Willem Stoltz, 3 Kevin Buys, 2 Charles Emslie, 1 JC Janse van Rensburg.
Subs: 16 Hannes Franklin, 17 Heinke van der Merwe , 18 Franco van der Merwe, 19 Jacques Lombaard/Robert Kruger, 20 Jacques Coetzee, 21 Carlos Spencer/Wandile Mjekevu, 22 Earl Rose.
@89 We are having veg casserole…the temperature did drop remarkably today didnt it!
4man did you get the contact numbers for Tshukudu game lodge?
@90 ha ha, yes you do have a brain, but like most selectors we have difficulty getting away from current form…but the Sharks destroy even that theory, they are just bad this season…and it begins up front sorry to say. I have picked the Sharks for a loss this weekend, now watch them prove me wrong!!! Otherwise in most cases I have gone for home ground advantage with a couple of exceptions.
@92 Ja Super, ek het met Ross gereel vir pakkete na hulle toe, ek, eintlik my seun, is nou besig om die website klaar te maak, dan gaan ek begin mark op die komper, maar ek het al n klomp mense laat weet wat ek maak. As hulle begin gaan dan sal die stories uitspry na hulle vriende toe…ek verstaan dit sal stadig begin.
luister Super daardie slot van der Merwe beindruk my meer en meer elke week…ons sal sien hoe gaan hy as hulle bietjie sukkel. Hoe lank is Bakkies uit? hy gaan sukkel om sy plek terug te kry.
ok dudes and dudesses…suppertime and everyone appears to be AWOL anyway.
95
Ek sien dat Bakkies nog minstens 4 weke uit is.
Pretoria – Bakkies Botha should be back on the rugby field in five weeks time, but is in a race to be included in the Vodacom Bulls touring squad to Australia and New Zealand.
The tour include matches against the Western Force, Blues, Chiefs and Reds and starts on March 24th.
Botha is recovering well from an operation to his Achilles and is undergoing rehabilitation which includes swimming, cycling and gym. According to the Vodacom Bulls team doctor, Org Strauss, Botha will be ready to play in five weeks.
Four other squad members will not join the team when they assemble again on Monday.
Jaco Pretorius (quad) will be ready in two weeks, with Akona Ndungane (broken leg) and Chiliboy Ralepelle (broken toe) back in three weeks. Frik Kirsten, who is recovering from a neck operation, will be back in four weeks.
Strauss has cleared Pierre Spies for action next week and Danie Rossouw has also received a clean bill of health after a neck strain.
Bees Roux (calf) will be on light duty for the next couple of days.
96
ek wil graag weer met jou praat oor jou toer pakkete ek het smart voorstelle, moet net weet wat jy regtig beplan. Mail my later ek ken alle Lodges hier rond.
4 man see you, enjoy….
98 SuperBul, look at that….the link reinstated to superbru…Shame I am still 16th….always hope I may have crept up the chart again!
OK I’m out, looks like you may be turning the light out tonight as ‘you know who’ seems to have vanished!!
See you
What the Lions supporters need to understand is that you cannot stick your head in the sand and think that alles sal regkom.
It is not about selection or the players at the Lions.
It is about the coaches mentality towards the game.
I am always on the side of the players.
Players do not run onto the field intending to play badly.
However even good players cannot play well and grow in a team that plays headless chicken rugby.
Rugby is a game of structure.
The S14 is no place for experiment.
To give players confidence you have to put a solid game structure in place, that allows the players to know what they are expected to do.
Only once there is a structure that everybody is comfortable with, then you add the individual flair.
The current approach does nothing for player development.
tighthead @ 101
“Players do not run onto the field intending to play badly”
…
well i’ve seen players smile after a 49-0 loss in a springbok jersey
and
then run the all blacks close (at home) the next week
now
they had
the same coach, same “structures” in those two weeks
can we safely assume that the difference in those weeks was the MENTALITY OF YOUR PRECIOUS PLAYERS?
O,
môre mense,
bulle
en tighthead!! 😀
Ash, you are assuming a smile equates to the intention to play badly.
You are supposing that they were not motivated to play because you saw them smile.
No player ever goes onto the field in a Bok jersey and does not give his best.
You make too many assumptions.
tighthead @ 104
😀 nope, i never said that they went onto the field with the intention to play badly or lose by 49 points …
but
isnt it the same thing when you’re mentally not up to the challenge/ mentally not well prepared for the game?
#105
ok, lets rephrase 105
..
take a simple example
… i looooooooove going to kareokes on thursday nights, because i like the vibe, there “kinners” etc etc.
problem is, i always come home late
now, on a friday morning i always keep asking myself the question of why i do it to myself?
mostly i’m tired, on other occasions i’m nog halfdronk, once i even went to work after 11.
now
i know that i shouldnt be doing that, cause for that whole day i’m not working as well as i know i could, i normally wish that the day will just fly by and of course hope that we will not be busy
now
back to the players …. as with me (and everyone else) there MUST be occasions where they are not up to scratch for whatever reason … so how can you blame the coach for that?
another thing …. the lions have had quite a few coaches over the last few years and one had as dismal a record as the other ….
now
is it the bulls that makes frans ludeke a good coach
or
was he always one?
106@ Asbak – Very valid point and argument, but as a whole, the Union must have structures condusive to doing well…
By that I mean that EVERYTHING starts right at the top…. this is where Kevin de Klerk sits and just below him. If we take for granted that Kevin himself is fine and doing his thing, then we must still give him an ear full for not firing and doing away with Manie Reyneke and his cohorts who have run the Union so sloppily before and who still retain their positions.
It then filters down to things like contracting and player affairs…. it is clear that this was and is still a shambles at the Lions… we have the Jaque Fourie and Alberts and Ludik saga’s to remind us of this…
Then it goes down the ladder to the Coach and HIS chosen support team, the structures they employ and put in place, the game plans they force down on team players. Kindly tell me that you’re not in favour of the “Run at all Costs” principal which Muir is implimenting, please!
In addition the coach has to perform one VITAL FUNCTION and that is to be an excellent man-manager, which entails inspiring the player group to buy into his philosophy, game plans and methodology… to really become a family who will literally die for one another… can you see this happening at the Lions, can you see Dick Muir as this figure considering the adopted style of play and the wholesale changes he just made. I’m sceptical about this aspect!
Then it filters all the way down to the players…. sure they have to take some of the blame…. but is the strongest muscle in their bodies, those few inches between the ears, fit and focussed with all the team shanannigans surounding them from the top down? It must be near impossible, there must be nagging doubts… and after 3 losses there must be a feeling of “Arghhhh, here we go again… the season and the team is farked!”
I feel for the Lions, because to be able to climb out of this rather large hole which the whole Union has dug for itself, must be extremely difficult and to my mind it needed a special person and staff to achieve this, possibly somebody who had done it before, like Heyneke Meyer.
The Lions supporters can say what they like and refer back to Heyneke initially struggling, but they will always be blocked by the fact that history is there to support the fact that he succeeded.
So, are the players ultimately to blame…. or is it the coach…. well it is both and much more, the fish was rotten from the head down…. and still is to a large extent.
Three weeks into the competition is damn early though and the possibility always exists that I’m totally wrong in my assumptions of Muir… we will certainly see another chapter in this saga this weekend!
Ash, a less talented coach can succeed with very good players.
The same coach will battle with less talented players.
A very good coach can gain some success with less talented players.
As for players being mentally up for the game, well it is a professional sport and a lot of effort is dedicated to ensuring players are mentally well prepared on the day.
However players are all human beings and some are naturally mentally stronger than others.
The mental aspect of the game is not so evident when a team is winning, but it is everything when you are losing and need to come back.
Lastly, there are some days that just dont go right for a team on the rugby field, no matter how well prepared and experienced the team may be.
There are no simple answers why this happens, and most of us who have played this game have had this experience before.
You know, sorta like every Friday morning!!!
I for one can’t get my head around it that the Lions went with Dick when Heyneke was available to them…
People can say whatever they want, and refer to the Bulls obsession and all that drivel that Heyneke is seen as the messiah of Pretoria …but the results are there to see for EVERYONE !!!
One could even see the influence immediatly at the start of the season this S14 at the Bulls.
Well in any case, I for one all be it I’m stupid or not judged by others am very glad that Heyneke is back at the Bull and not at our opposition.
Thanks Lions for stuffing that one up ,imo…
106 @ Ash…
Wie het daai vir jou geskryf…?
Mens kan mos sien dis ‘n intelligente persoon en nie ‘n wiepie supporter nie 😆
…Paar goeie punte my maat…
tighthead @ 108
lmao
hmmmm good one, hehehehe
blouste @ 110
versigtig nou
kyk waar jy trap
jy sit nou-nou maar jou voet in ñ bol :poop: neer, hehehe
Ash
Ek hoop nie jou baas lees die nie…More is JY innie :poop: …
GBS
Yes there are those in Doornfontein who think I’m a “veraaier”, but those people could not see CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM if it poked them in the eye with a sharp stick.
I’ve just erased 20 minutes of rhetoric, because I don’t agree with slagging off people and organisations just for the sake of it.
Above all I WANT THE LIONS TO SUCCEED. However I don’t think that is going to happen in the next 3 years.
There are many reasons why I think that, and unfortunately the profeesional arm is only the tip of the iceberg.
I’ll never support another SA team, but the GLRU / Lions are making it VERY HARD to continue to be an active supporter by buying tickets, taking the family to games etc etc etc.
The sad part is that the people running Rugby in Johannesburg cannot see their failings, and seem to think that anyone who is even a tiny bit critical is “out to get them” or a “traitor”.
It truly saddens me.
Scrumdown
No worries bud…
You can just take a 50 kilo’s drive up north and watch some good ruggas 😆
Blouste
The Rugby that the Bulls have been playing for the last 18 months has been awesome.
But as I said before, the professional team that runs onto the field on a Saturday afternoon is only the tip of the iceberg.
If a conmparative audit were done on the 2 Gauteng Unions, I’m sure that there would be vast differences in the levels of professionalism across the entire structure, and this IMO makes all the difference.
It doesn’t matter who it is within the structures, the guy in the ticket office, the PA to the referrees department, the guy who cleans the urinals, whoever, professionalism is what counts. If a job is worth doing, it’s worth doing well, irrespective of how trivial it may seem.
Maybe even a COMPARATIVE audit would work!
We will never let you in on our secrets !!! 😉
On a serious note, I agree with you 100%…
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