‘There is no fate but what we make.’ Cheesy I know, but this famous movie line might just be the best description of what the future holds for young Lionel Cronje.
I have possibly wasted too many inches of column space in the past questioning the management of Lionel Cronje especially since most of us has yet to see him produce the type of performances many of his fans believe he is capable of. Of what there is no doubt however, is that this young man now has the opportunity to vindicate not only himself, but those who support him.
Cronje was brought to the Cape with a big hooraa by Director of Rugby, Rassie Erasmus, in 2009 as a promising young star who made a name for himself in the SA U/20 team. Such was his promise that the union and their coaches even compared him to Francois Steyn at the time.
This fairytale would be short-lived however as Cronje became involved in a bar brawl in 2010 which saw him being internally disciplined by the team and management resulting in his exclusion from the Super rugby squad of that year.
Given the Stormers and Western Province’s success in 2010 with Peter Grant and Willem de Waal occupying the number 10 jersey for the whole year, and young Gary van Aswegen guiding the U/21 team to Currie Cup success, the star of Lionel Cronje faded very fast.
Given little chance to show his ability at flyhalf and the persistent rumours that he is not much of a team-man, Lionel was heading down a very dark road.
With Willem de Waal heading off to Italy in late 2010 and Grant stuck in Japan well into the 2011 season, Cronje was offered a glimmer of hope. Surprisingly however, Coetzee seemed to favour new (Boland) recruit Elgar Watts and now senior player, Gary van Aswegen in the flyhalf position during the pre-season games.
Cronje seemed destined to play out 2011 much as he finished 2010 in the WP Vodacom Cup side.
‘Fate’ however, has now given Cronje the one break he so desperately need.
Prior to the Lions game the Stormers’ first choice pivot, Peter Grant, sustained a knee injury in training and unsurprisingly, Allister Coetzee called up Gary van Aswegen to the senior team with Lionel Cronje promoted to the bench. Minutes into the Lions game however, Van Aswegen also sustained an injury which will keep him sidelined for the best part of a month and from no-where, Lionel found himself in the pound seat.
This week, in what promises to be one of the most crucial matches for the Cape franchise to determine who will end up conference winners, Cronje might just get the chance to finally show everyone what he is made of.
Peter Grant has been bracketed in the Stormers team-sheet as a possible starter with Coetzee giving him until the very last minute to prove his fitness, but it is highly unlikely he will take the field.
In life, one rarely gets a second bite at the cherry or to correct the wrongs of the past, but for Cronje, fate seemed to have played a hand in which he now has just that.
Will his star shine again? Well, I believe that if that is going to be the case, he only has one shot at this, but one shot is all great players need.
If you are good enough, you are old enough.
Well one can certainly remember there being a lot of hype about this young man, so guess its time for him to show that he has the talent to make it at the top level. You cant argue that he’s so young because look how well all the very young talented Aussie backs are doing. Another player who was really hyped up was Rob Ebersohn, unfortunately haven’t seen him play but dont really read in the reports that he has been setting the world alight, how is he doing?
Yep…its a big step and the chances are few as you say Morne’….some guys just can’t make the step up (Jacques Louis P) and some can (Ian Lambies little boy). I still think Frans Steyn played his best rugby at centre and was largely integral to us winning the world cup. Ruan Pienaar the more talented of those two in my opinion has just never shown us his best consistently, his problem is temperament and emotion, a malaise certain Bulls players know well. I see Keo took a big dip at Jake in his newsletter….bit offsides I thought, it is never a good thing to bear a grudge as you end up carrying the burden yourself, he also picks Natal to win strongly on Saturday…..I think its going to be closer than that….anyway, I am off the subject.
Excellent article as usual.
4man @ 3
he had a go at jake?
hehehehe
how the times have changed … hmmm, just have to go and see whether his latest newsletter is still in my spam folder!!
be back in a minute
#4
nope!!
gone!! 😥
@ Ashley:
Sorry Ash…multi tasking…I am here though….royal wedding, forex markets and rugby talk.
I’ll post the article
I only hope Jake doesn’t believe the right thing to do now is trash the Springboks and South African rugby.
Watch this space because once he settles in Canberra in June, starts saying tomate-ooo instead of tomaaaaat-ooo, he may just feel he wouldn’t be Jake if he didn’t have a pop at the players he coached and the team he took to World Cup honours.
I just hope he doesn’t go down that route.
I know he will be successful because he is a bloody good coach and he is also happiest when coaching. It has been a tough four years for him and not coaching a team has made him pretty unhappy. He has also been angry with South African rugby, but if he does some introspection in time he will realize he has been his own worst enemy and he shut every door open to him in South Africa.
South African rugby bosses should also be big enough to forgive and forget and when the Brumbies job runs its course, be it in four years or sooner, then he should be welcomed back to South Africa because he can make a contribution to the success of the game.
It won’t be easy restoring the Brumbies to their glory years. They have some talented youngsters in the mix but they have lost heaps in experience and the pool of talent in Australia can’t be compared to South Africa.
I did think Jake was stating the obvious when he said New Zealand have to be favourites to win the World Cup. They are playing at home and rarely lose a Test in their backyard. Naturally they are favourites but that doesn’t mean they are guaranteed the tournament. I thought he could have given his boys a bit more backing, but then he hasn’t done so since he left the team in 2007.
Good luck Jake and try to think before you talk in Australia about the evils of South African rugby.
The Brumbies will be stronger because of his involvement.
I tweeted earlier in the week that I wished him well but that as a person he remains a first class prick and a liar. Many responded and wanted to know why I would make such a remark. It is based on Jake selling out a friendship. I have no malice towards him and at one stage considered him a dear friend. We worked together and in rugby for 15 years and went through a lot as colleagues and as coach/media. I wrongly assumed that meant something.
4man @ 6
aaaaaaawhhhh,
now did jake go and break keo’s heart?
aaaaaaaawwwhhhh shame!!
anyway guys, i’m out
been a bit quite here today, but hope to chat again tomorrow
cheers guys!! enjoy the rest of the evening!!
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