Warren Whiteley
No 8 Warren Whiteley has credited coach Johan Ackermann for the revival in Lions rugby.
This season, Ackermann coached the Xerox Golden Lions to an ABSA Currie Cup title while they also had an adequate Super Rugby campaign as the Emirates Lions, winning 9 of their 16 games.
Not only have the Lions showed a revival in form, but they have also done so by employing an enterprising game style.
“This all started when Johan Ackermann took over as head coach and encouraged the players to play for each other and the jersey,” Whiteley told MyPlayers.co.za. “He put the pride back into Lions rugby, which had a major influence on the team. We enjoyed a strong finish to Super Rugby last year, and we did well during this year’s tournament. We’re also doing well in the Currie Cup. This is all reward for the hard work we’ve put in to ensure the Lions excel as a unit… as a family.”
According to Whiteley, there are also sound structures in place at the union.
“We’ve been lucky to have great continuity in the squad over the past 2 seasons and at the same time, the union has worked hard to develop the young talent among the junior teams,” he said.
“And these guys are coming through the system and proving their worth. Many of them made their mark in the Currie Cup this season, which is why it’s still such a great competition as it provides a platform for these young players to showcase their talent and abilities at a high level. It’s great to see so many young players flourishing, and that will only add to the Lions’ momentum going forward.”
Whiteley also thrives in his role as leader in the team.
“My time in the Springbok squad has helped improve my leadership skills. Watching the way Jean de Villiers and Victor Matfield lead the team has given me great insight… things I can take back to the Lions.
“I also have to thank my Lions team-mates and coaches around me for their support and assistance. They’ve made the job a whole lot easier for me.
“Among the players, there are other leaders who share the responsibility. Guys like Elton Jantjies, Jaco Kriel, Franco Mostert and Lionel Mapoe. Howard Mnisi also captained the team recently in the Currie Cup. These are just a few of the players who make a massive difference in their respective position.”
Sport24
What I like most about Lions is their willingness to be different to other SA teams.
Last year the Lions concentrating very hard on forwards dominance, especially the scrums… they were so good in the scrums and their rotation was so damn well(ok maybe I like their rotation policy most, but I wont be side tracked), that every week a Lions prop was pushed for higher duties at the Boks, the Lions were destroying everyone and forcing penalties almost at will.
This year, the Lions props were not as prominent and they had more success…
In contrast to that, the Bulls think they should be competitive in the scrums, so every week we see the same thing, they go out every time with the plan to dominate… and if they don’t more often than not the entire set up is screwed, penalty after penalty is conceded destroying any momentum, looking back at SR this year the bulls lost 6 games by less than seven points, and more often than not those games were decided by scrum penalties pinning the Bulls back again and again… Same thing every game, there is absolutely no compensation for a weak scrum, for example attempting to hook the ball quicker and get it out.
That said the highlight of the World Cup for me and the reason why European refs dominated the play offs was the simple fact that they try to penalise the scrums as little as possible, unless they REALLY have to… during Super Rugby the refs almost look for any excuse to blow a penalty.
Then you look at the Sharks or Stormers, who have fairly powerful scrums, but they overcompensate for this buy rather trying to force the penalty by scrumming them in their “moer” rather than use the scrum as an attacking platform.
So what happened was while the Lions props receded in the public picking order, the Stormers and Sharks props stocks rose because of the emphasis those teams put into the scrum… and that does not really get them that far in the end.
Before I get accused of anything add the Boks to the equation, every time we force a penalty or (more likely) get granted a 50/50 penalty, the whole team celebrates like we scored a try.
@ MacroPolo: I agree absolutely MP. We did improve our scrummaging but failed to back it up with enterprising play from good ball. How many times was it simply wasted? I have no hair left after watching the Boks this past year.
Tassies wrote:
haha to make things worse you support the Stormers as well, they would rather keep the ball in the scrum for three minutes waiting for the scrum to collapse from koch or malherbes magnificent power over anything else.
Gosh these scrums are already making me anxious.
Ill be as excited as as any rugby supporter come the super 18 season, I am sure the hype will be wonderful etc and there will be new hope, with all the changes in our franchises, new players and new dreams…
but if i have to watch another local derby that effectively gets decided by which scrum dominates and penalty after penalty and the eventual “getting on the wrong side of the ref”… I am going to looooose my fucking shit.
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