Lions can save South African rugby . . .

Good article here.

Some excerpts I agree with . . .

"The Lions need to remind South Africans of the power and talent the nation possesses and make the world fear them once more.

Their role is to act as a reminder that South Africans can play running rugby, and that they can beat New Zealand sides at their own game.

The Lions were the best attacking franchise in 2016 and ran their opponents ragged, topping the competition’s stat categories for tries and points scored along with a number of attacking areas; defenders beaten, metres run and try assists. That all shows a South African outfit can come close to perfecting a running strategy."

And . . .

"Perhaps the biggest issue for the Lions in 2017 however might be a lack of confidence among the troops. The Lions built a fast-moving, bravado-based game plan last season. But after being subjected to a toxic Springbok set-up, some key players might be low on confidence.

This means the Lions’ coaching staff will need to rebuild the players’ self-belief.

For example Jantjies was one of the best players in Super Rugby last year, but after being forced into a Springbok game plan that didn’t suit him, the fly-half had a visible drop in form. The same goes for other 2016 star performers like Mapoe and Malcolm Marx, who rarely received opportunities with the Boks."

Who better than Johan Ackerman to get the confidence back up?

Come on Lions . . . and Sharks!

Actually no....Mapoe, Jantjies, Whiteley, Combrink and Mostert demonstrated they really dont have the physical talent for test rugby. The team may fail, but there is no reason an individual can't compete. A guy like O Driscoll outplayed his opponent regularly while playing in a losing cause. The myth was was broken for the Lions, mid pack is the likely destination.

 An article to sell the event. Selling sporting events is all about selling sport events.

Betting odds were posted: they show bookmakers do not believe. And bookmakers must believe because they want people to place bets, that is the way bookmakers make money. And people, to place bets, must believe. And that is the bookies'job to get them to believe.

From memory the SA franchises were protected as they didn't play NZ teams that often? IF this is the case then the Lions record would be a little inflated. Some might say this is much like the egos of some of the members of this board.

  yeah, too much hype around the lions,... last season they reached the final thanx to the SA refs,... mainly to Joubert who refered the QF against the saders,...

as JW pointed their stats are a little bit inflated as consequence of their easier schedule

looking for the next season the lions will have an even easier schedule, they'll have the easiest of the comp,... playing twice the Kings and the Cheetahs and once the Sunwolves while they won't face the 5 strongests teams, the NZ sides,... so they'll probably maintain or even improve their attacking stats

on the negative side there's the fact that some of their players, specially Mapoe and Jantjies, were exposed when played for the boks,.... also that they are going to be the SA side to beat,... the other SA teams are going to put their best effort to beat them,... and ,finally, a very important player left (Mostert) and some other very important players like Jaco Kriel and Whiteley are playing in Japan which means that they are not going to have any rest,... the injury risk soars and in the case they are not injured they'll finish the SR season exhausted

anyway, I cannot see any other side winning their conference

 JW The Lions played a lot of the NZ teams in 2016 and did well. This season they'll only play against your teams towards then end of the competition. 
I for one won't have the Lions put down by the likes of Basque because they did play we all year. Their forwards in particular are a great example of the type of play that is required these days. Quicker smaller guys that cause the opposition to gas in the last 20 and then gaps start appearing. Similar to what NZ do, or am I way off the mark? 
Unfortunately in SA we will always pick Lood over Mostert even though it's plainly obvious which of the two contributes more for longer periods of the game. No matter how obvious the Lions make it, SA won't see the light any time soon.

Small guys may have a shot in Super Rugby....they fold like a bitcoin in tests. Just look at Whiteley a total non entity on the YE tour.

 Plum, don't get me wrong mate, the Lions did very well last year and were the best of the bunch in SA. They were a pleasure to watch. I'm just not so confident in the claim the title of this thread put forward.
For sure they show SA fans and coaches that there are other ways to play the game in SA but to say they will save SA rugby is a bit of a stretch IMO. I would like to see blend of old SA rugby (tough and big forwards like Etzabeth) and skilled backs . I think we will have to  wait a while for a Boks team that can challenge the no. 1 spot.

Mozart, this guy must the the type big back you had in mind 

Nah that looks more like one of your relatives JW.

Even the spectator doesn't have the courage to look 
I think this rugby player of generous proportions is a budding Bock & is part of the new skills programme. Or alternatively in is Frans Steyn - what say you CleverMike?

"yeah, too much hype around the lions,... last season they reached the final thanx to the SA refs,... mainly to Joubert who refered the QF against the saders,... "

ABasque, never thought I'd see the day when you started sounding like Baboon-ou!

Anyway, that is just opinion (we can debate whether it's whiny opinion or ref-bashing opinion) but the FACT remains that the Lions got to the Super Rugby final and in doing so scored the most tries in the competition.

The Lions remain South Africa's best hope to rebuild South African rugby and I can only hope that our idiot coach recognizes that it's not just the quality of the rugby they played last season but the style of ball-in-hand running rugby that they played as well.

Let the likes of Jantjies, Mapoe play the way they're used to and you might see a very different Springbok team.

 Moz here is a comparison. Got the info from Wikipedia.
Kieran Read 1,93m @ 110kgWarren Whitely 1,93m @ 106kg

Just by the way, I don't want to give the impression I'm now suddenly a Lions supporter. As much as I admire Johan Ackerman's Lions I remain a loyal Sharks supporter and I'm very optimistic that the Sharks will have a much better season as well.

Getting rid of the useless coach Gary Gold and the out-of-his-depth CEO John Smit and replacing them with Robert du Preez and Gary Teichmann is very encouraging and I'm expecting a much improved season for the Sharks.

 Rooi, i personally hope that all the big unions improve. I think we all do.

The Bulls, Sharks and WP in particular need to pull their socks up. They all have an abundance of talent coming through every year and over last few seasons a combination of poor coaching, selfishness and egos has resulted in some terrible performances.

My hope is that what we saw last year with the Boks serves as a wake up call. As is normally the case with people it could go one of two ways. Either the right debates are had and solutions/new directions are found or it serves to simply solidify the present stance..IE more of the same but try harder chaps. Lets hope the former is what has occurred.

Redlinghuys will be sorely missed at the Lions. He was a huge part of their success and i don't know if he'll be back next season, or ever, since i haven't read anything regarding his neck injury of late. The other question is how tired the boys who went to Japan will be. My guess is that Akkerman won't accept anything less than 100% and will happily drop any underperformers.

And then there is the Jantjies dilemma. What if, yet again, he outperforms every other 10 in the country during SR? Will this combined with the fact that the entire nation agrees Coetzee has been toxic for the Boks mean that Jantjies gets another bite at the apple? Or will Pollard return, hit his straps and immediately be in the running for a sta rting berth.

I think the Sharks, Bulls and Cheetahs will all do better this year than last, but i don't hold out much hope for the Stormers. Pity, because some of our best players are there. Sorry Beeno.

In particular i am looking forward to the return of Galant for the Bulls. The Bulls have a few players that i'm very interested in for this season actually. RG Snyman, Kirsten and Lappies are all great future prospects. Though i know Moz thinks  that RG is a tad light in the thigh area  

Does anyone know if Strauss is at the Bulls again this year? I personally hope not.

"Rooi, i personally hope that all the big unions improve. I think we all do."

Well, speaking for myself I don't mind the Bulls, Cheetahs or even the Kings improving but I can't say the same for the Hapless Stompies.

The sound of the loud-mouthed Stompies supporters bleating about the ref and making up the most pathetic excuses for their even more pathetic team is music to my ears.

 @rooi,

the difference with Baboon is that he's ALWAYS blaming the refs for his teams' loses,... and bringing absurd conspiracy theories,...

but sometimes refs influence games' outcomes,... it happens,... and Joubert's Lions-Saders QF's refereeing was one of these cases,... one of the most blatant cases of bias refereeing,...

Joubert didn't show 3 blatant yellows 3 to the Lions' players, gifted them 2 tries that shouldn't be awarded and show an inexistant yellow to Romano btwin many other things,... I will post a video with Joubert's biased calls

 Ah, those lions...

SA does not need to be saved. It must be terminated. As excellent men fight this outcome, it ensures it does not need to be saved.
Rugby will keep being as long as it is possible, even if that means people in SA must sell their organs so that professional rugby can be supported.

Wow, that is deep sh!t ...... very deep 

 No matter how obvious the Lions make it, SA won't see the light any time soon. True Plum I have frequently pointed out the huge number of obstacles SA Rugby faces. Of course that retard ab ASS has not grasped what I have said and think I only blame refs. Man this guy is a real dumbASS!
SA Rugby is in a crises and fundamental reform is necessary. Until then we will bump along with occasional success confirming morons in the error of their ways.Rooitwit as per usuals has no clue whatsoever and his pathological drivel about the Stormers show how unhinged he is.JW no self promotion or is it denigration by showing photos like that!