Tuna
This whole lions issue has been a bitter pill to swallow for me as well.
I spoke to a friend today, very loyal lion supporter. Actively going to basically every game pre covid for like 5 plus years. Even he “couldn’t give a f**k” anymore.
Now we can all sit and say , ag it’s just a phase. Or that is sport .
BUT covid , the crap in the USA, the Ukrainian war . All the craziness has caused us to lose perspective .
We are just coming from a low base and that is why we are “hopeful in thinking its just a phase” . If you objectively look at it , I’m sorry to say , we are in a crisis at the lions and the only logical outcome I can see is the lions becoming the next EP kings.
What a sad tale to such a long and proud Union.
And why ? Stubbornness , egos , money ?? It’s a bloody disgrace man.
I’ve said it before , but I’ll say it again. I don’t even look at the on field performance , we won’t solve our problems , by changing tactics. Our problem is the same as Blackberry’s 10 years ago, management inability to adapt is what needs to be addressed.
I was hoping SA rugby will step in, now I see they are doing a coaching clinic , are you kidding me ??? But with Jurie Roux still the CEO , it goes to show how irresponsible and dumb the people running rugby in this country really are.
We have the best most talented rugby players in the world , with proper management we can be the best , we compete in spite of bad management not as a result there of.
Our school boy and varsity rugby must be the best in the world. You would think we have the players to produce 4 teams that can compete in the URC.
What is the solution ? Here is my view:
SA rugby should Ask Altmann what is the plan , if he has “opted out” , then he must walk away. If he is still passionate , then he needs to bring in the corrective measures to address the management issues we have.
So get Altmann on board and change management , That would be the start . Then:
- Cash must go , that is obvious. Let’s get a proper coach , if we are going to spend money , let’s do it there . - We should have a cultural identity . When we did well in 2016-2018, we were known for being a “running team”. BUT really , we were just the fittest team . We ran teams off their feet, now that requires ZERO talent , hard work is what needs to be put in. Let’s demote Cash to what he is actually good at and give the team proper fitness goals and KPI’s. - Partner with SA rugby and contract springboks. I have no doubt that we would have won the 2016/2017 and 2018 super rugby titles if we had more guys with test match experience on the park . Yes in 2018 the guys had a couple of caps , but nowhere near what is needed in a real championship team. It’s in SA rugbys interest to have a strong competitive teams, they need to balance the talent pool. - Change the makeup of the coaching staff, rather simplify , we have too many chefs , BUT invest in a psychologist. Winning starts in your head . Sometimes you are lucky , win a few and then the belief grows and you continue winning. The all blacks win the game before the kick off. That’s why the boks more often then not narrowly lose, we can beat them , but they just unapologetically believe they will win every game they play. So they never give up and just keep coming at you (Also , they probably fitter than the rest so as long as they believe and keep going , they normally do so) - Get on the right side of the ref , this is a bit of a holy grail , BUT , the ref is a person. They make errors and use judgement , we have lost countless games on bad calls , I don’t know how much time goes into this , but it can be the difference between n win or loss. Analyse the ref , what they look at , how they interpret and then adapt . You can’t say “we are only looking at our own performance and focusing on what we think is important”. That’s a luxury winning teams van afford . - Get depth I positions where SA has short supply . Don’t buy wings and loose forwards. It’s a waste of money.
When all this is done then we can start talking on the field stuff.
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