Swys swops experience for youth

It may be seen as a massive knee-jerk reaction to their loss against the Vodacom Bulls, but Emirates Lions coach Swys de Bruin doubled down and rewarded the youth element in his squad as he made several changes to the team to face the Jaguares on Saturday.

The 30-12 loss to the Bulls was a massive shock to all those at Emirates Airline Park, especially given the dominance over the past few seasons an De Bruin believes the time is right to blood some impressive young talent.

“I’m very excited about the juniors, and when I say juniors I don’t really mean Juniors, I mean young guys who are going to play senior rugby. And I also believe when you are good enough you are old enough. It is a big honour and privilege for us to start introducing these guys. We’ve done it off the bench before. We did start introducing these guys over the last three years and now it is time to start testing them. Sometimes in a combination, sometimes in a one on one,” he explained.

Wandesile Simelane and Franco Naude will form a new midfield while Sylvian Mahuza comes in at wing for Aphiwe Dyantye. Ross Cronje returns at scrumhalf for the team, while Kwagga Smith moves to eight to accommodate Vincent Tshituka on the flank. Ruan Vermaak will partner Rhyno Herbst in a young lock duo for the game.

New faces on the bench include Nathan McBeth, also a former Monnas schoolboy, James Venter and Tyrone Green (Jeppe High School).

De Bruin hinted some of the changes had to do with form, but said he was planning to blood some players anyway.

“We have it on my whiteboard which players we want to blood and when. So it is easy to say it is rotational, but certain players lose their form and it is a good chance to pick other players. It is a tough job when you have 45 players in a group and there is work for 15 on a given day and for eight guys on the bench. They know, there is nobody not happy in our camp. Guys who aren’t playing will work harder, that is how it works.

“There was no panic stages. It was after the 80th minute that we lost at Newlands, and in the last two years we drew 19-all there and won 23-20. You mustn’t read anything into that. What did happen last week was a magnificent performance on how to suffocate a team by the Bulls. They’ve got a good spine, an experienced spine with two Springbok scrumhalves. So that’s it, we carry on. You can’t dwell too much on our game, it is always like Saturday night you can’t sleep, Sunday after Church you start feeling better, Monday you have to be positive and we all have to face each other. And then get positive, because a mistake I’ve learnt in my earlier days as a coach – to dwell too much as a coach is a killer.”

De Bruin said while he would have loved to have more points at this stage, he was excited about seeing the young players in action.

“I would have loved to have had more points, last year we had nine points at this stage, and the year before the same, and now we are sitting on five. But if you are a golfer – I love my golf terms – if I start with a par, par, double drop, then it is time to look at birdies again. We will stay process driven and to keep working, and not to worry too much about that, it is a long competition. I just want to say again, and get it off my heart, I believe in seasons and it is time for new guys.

“I’m not talking about building. Building is a cliché I hate and I don’t want to use that. I am so excited with these youngsters it is amazing. It is beautiful, the thing about this whole team, I think we have some of the best, if not the best, up and coming juniors in the world. They were fantastic in the SA under-20s, we had a lot of them there, they come through a brilliant recruiting system. So that is why I am excited, and if you don’t get the results straight away, I would love it if they come, and you don’t know when it will come. But I tell you what I will stand and fall by that, these guys will come through and when they come through they will be fantastic.”

Emirates Lions: Andries Coetzee; Sylvian Mahuza, Wandisile Simelane, Franco Naude, Courtnall Skosan; Elton Jantjies, Ross Cronje; Kwagga Smith, Vincent Tshituka, Marnus Schoeman, Rhyno Herbst, Ruan Vermaak, Carlu Sadie, Malcom Marx, Dylan Smith.

Reserves: Pieter Jansen, Nathan McBeth, Frans van Wyk, Stephan Lewies, James Venter, Dillon Smit, Harold Vorster, Gianni Lombard/Tyrone Green