Match 10 - Lions vs Bulls

Is the former Springbok coach Rudolf Straeuli set to re-enter the coaching arena?

All indications are that the Sigma Lions will be undergoing a restructuring soon after a string of poor results and the future for coach Ivan van Rooyen does not look good at all.

While no definitive announcement has been made, the Lions have indicated they will be looking at making significant changes to their coaching team ahead of their entry into the United Rugby Championship in September.

There is no doubt the coaching results of the current team aren’t what they need to be and it is understood there is significant unhappiness with this at the moment in the Ellis Park corridors.

Add to this the fact that Van Rooyen’s contract ends in October, as well as all of his assistant coaches and it is looking more and more likely that there will be a change of guard soon.

Which begs the question, what will that change of guard look like?

Whispers have already put it that Straeuli, who has not actively coached since leaving the Springboks, will return to the coaching role, and relinquish his title as chief executive of the Lions.

This will mean he will effectively take over the role of Director of Rugby at the franchise, with former Pumas and current Ellis Park Company CEO Pieter Burger likely to take over as chief executive of the franchise.

Part of the problem at the moment is that it already just over a month before the URC starts and there is not only little time to find a replacement, but there are also very few candidates available at the moment that can be recruited.

Straeuli returning to coaching would at least help the Lions out as he is already employed while Van Rooyen’s elevation to coach, which was one of the stranger decisions to come out of Ellis Park in a while, could see him returning to the strength and conditioning role he fulfilled before being given the coaching gig.

Already there have been reports that Warren Whiteley, the former Bok captain, is set to join the Sharks as lineout coach while the futures of the rest of the coaching team is uncertain.

Straeuli told Supersport.com when asked if he was returning to coaching that there was definitely restructuring on the cards at the Lions.

“We are looking at restructuring because of the fact that the URC and Currie Cup will overlap this season. Hopefully we will have some news soon,” he said in a whatsapp message.

Van Rooyen lamented the “expensive mistakes” his side had made in their loss to the Bulls this past weekend - the Pretoria side’s biggest win in decades in Johannesburg.

“Today was a bit different than previously. Going down to 14 and losing setpiece structure and shape, we didn’t recover from that. A couple of mistakes made it tough. I can sit here and say it was debutants, but they are still representing the Lions. It doesn’t help, it doesn’t look good,” he said.

“I can’t say the same thing every time I sit here, but we are learning expensive lessons every week. The small errors are expensive.”

The Lions are sixth out of seven teams in the Currie Cup, with just two wins, three draws and five losses in their 10 games. The only side below them - the Toyota Cheetahs - is three points below them with a game in hand