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.
GBS
How can you ever doubt the master strokes of Dick?
Of course the Lions will win this one.
Even a blind squirrel gets lucky and finds a nut from time to time!
Of course they could also have their backsides handed to them, because a blind squirrel only really finds nut’s very infrequently.
Geez, between the nuts and Dick’s master strokes we could be talking about the latest release from Vivid Video instead of the the bunch of would be porn stars playing out of Doornfontein!
Hehehehehe
Lions to be handed a big “pakslae”… 😯
0/10 for consistancy…
Scrum,
The master ‘strokes’ of Dick you say?
So much wrong in that sentence it is not even funny!
Morne and Scrumdown,
Bwahaha!!
That surely qualifies as one of the funniest paragraphs I’ve seen here on RT!
Morne
The problem is if we (the Lions supporters) don’t make light of this VERY SERIOUS situation, we may well break down and cry.
I am truly worried that the Lions may not win a game in this competition.
As I said though, even a blind squirrell …….
Cum, cum… I mean come, come on guys… this is a family site… hehehehe
What planet does Dick Muir come from?
What sound advice will he give to PDV about the Boks backline play?
Has he given Earl Rose permission to never tackle?
Did he really think Carlos would last the S14?
So many questions.
I cannot imagine the kak that is being spoken in that Lions camp on tour!!
And not by the players!!
9@ Tight Head – I think Dick comes from the planet Plaedes… it is farking far away… hehehehe
The Brumbies are not the Chiefs. 8 changes = massacre.
TH
Dick Muir coached Pirates Rugby Club to the national Club Championships about a decade ago (if my memory serves me well).
Thereafter he went to the Sharks and won what?
From there onto the Boks.
Provincially he’s won NOTHING! No pedigree, no success, and (IMO) no future.
De Klerk and Reyneke (and their henchmen) made a monumental Fopar in appointing him in this position.
I’m sure that come the end of the S14 we’ll hear all of the same BS emenating from Doornfontein about “rebuilding” “young team” “vital experience” “new structures” etc etc etc.
Vark it I’m sick of it all.
12@ Scrumdown – Strange that this site has become the target of criticism from Lions support elsewhere who have the impression that we wrongly or too sternly criticize the Lions and their setup.
Now in those terms you must really irk them, sort of a “Verraaier” in their midst, I suppose, you’ll be labelled.
But damnit man, one had to just open unbiased eyes to see that problems would persist in Doornfontein. In light of this I admire your candour and open objective stand against what is clearly wrong there.
I think we all want the situation to improve at the Lions, but I, like Hokaai, fear that these 8 changes might just open the Lions up to a bit of a clobbering at the hands of a very good Brumbies side.
Scrumdown GBS
I agree with both of you.
What really riles me though is that I feel for the players.
Even without a quality playing squad and not much depth, you can start to build a team by getting the basics right and applying sound rugby principles from the point of view of tactics, technique and discipline.
I would support the development of the current Lions team if I could see the above.
Instead you have the very worst solution by employing a coach who has no respect for the basics, lives in running rugby dreamland, and is busy destroying what little confidence these players have left.
These players deserve better than Dick Muir.
Dick Muir coached Pirates to win the club championship. After Pirates he went to Tukkies who also won the club championship. Only after that did he go to the Sharks.
14@ Tight Head – Could’nt agree more, I also see Muir as a destructive force rather than anything positive… and to think they actually had the chance to hire Heyneke Meyer and a crew selected by him, but refused.
Heyneke is that one man who is very structure conscious, technique aware and would have been the right person to mould this bunch into a tight-knit family unit… and bring new players through the ranks.
Running at all costs rugby hides certain basic blemishes and creates a very false perception that sometime the Lions might click. All it will achieve is that they will lose more spectacularly, as we saw in that 72 / 65 scoreline of a couple of weeks ago.
Helter skelter running at all costs rugby does nothing for defensive structure, it’s 15-a-side 7’s rugby at it’s worst!
YesYes GBS and all you other rugby-(s)talkers, long time no speak.
Some good posts here, enjoyable reading, keep it folks!
17@ Pietaman – Very interesting 1970 NZ Tour Articles… and also the one about the Physiological Demands of Rugby
GBS@18, tans besig om te lees daar, moosa interessant.
OldGriqua sal daai fotos geniet, ek herken ook nog n paar ouens op die Griekwa-spanfoto, veral die Ammasol manne, dikwels teen party van hulle gespeel vir Oranje-Unie teen die ou VanDruten-Unie.
19@ Pieta – Ja, dis anders om die stuk Geskiedenis te lees vanuit ‘n NZ perspektief, nê!
Warriors 121/6 (20/20 ov)
Cape Cobras 7/1 (2.1/20 ov)
Cape Cobras require another 115 runs with 9 wickets and 17.4 overs remaining
2.5
Ntini to Gibbs, OUT, thick edge sails down to 3rd man and is comfortably snaffled
HH Gibbs c Theron b Ntini 2 (5m 5b 0x4 0x6) SR: 40.00
21@ SuperBul – Waar kry jy nog tyd vir krieket ook…
Jy’s besig met rugby, oupa wees, pa wees, man wees, werk, foto’s neem, drink…. flok, ek raak sommer dors!
Warriors 121/6 (20/20 ov)
Cape Cobras 9/2 (3.2/20 ov)
Cape Cobras require another 113 runs with 8 wickets and 16.4 overs remaining
Strange that when Meyer did exactly what Muir is doing now – he was a genius. But now that Muir is doing the same he’s an idiot?????
The only people that critisise the Lions are people who actually expects the Lions to do well this season.
Muir is building a squad system, he’s getting the players to start thinking for themselves on the pitch. How did the Bulls achieve where they are today?? The lost EVERY single game in a Super season, by building a squad and getting them all to buy into the same goals and principles.
How can you expect a team with 8 debutants in the first game against the Stormers to perform and gel immediately? It’s a process that Muir is building on. What he wants this season is the players buy-in in his game and ideas. He wants the players to develop a competetive squad. Its about having 25 players that can slot into a Super 14 game and the side can still perform.
Unfortunately when doing this, results take the back seat.
And believe me, there is no talk of any panic buttons. Everybody at the GLRU, including management and players know exactly where the Lions are working towards. Giving guys like Heinke vd Merwe, Franco vd Merwe time on the bench after three tuff games is about player management. And giving other players exposure to Superrugby. How else do you identify players that can make it at this level. Definitely not in trials or training sessions.
This will probably be shot down and be laughed at and what not…but it’s fact and Muir has a plan. What did Muir do after taking over from Putt after only four games into the Super 12? Exactly what he’s doing now.
If a coach is judged on results when taking over a struggling side, then Meyer would have never gotten past his first Superrugby season.
Naand GBS ek het nou net wakker geword , aan die slaap geraak daar op die bank, my gat is lam. Ag wat ek het maar laag gele die paar dae na die naweek, Bulle speel mos nie.
25 – Willa, Good luck with your team mate, really hoping Lions can beat the Brumbies. Lions my 2nd team so good luck to them.
Superbul, No crici thread, so just going to mention the crici here.
Are you watching the game with Cobras and Warriors? Thought game over after Warriors were bowled out for so little, but it seems game on after two quick wickets going down for Cobras.
Warriors 121/6 (20/20 ov)
Cape Cobras 24/2 (5.2/20 ov)
Cape Cobras require another 98 runs with 8 wickets and 14.4 overs remaining
28
Hi Puma the game will over very soon, not going for a cricket thread now. That total is too small. What happens if Cobras win this one, it will then be 1-1?
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