Lions Opt for Continuity by replacing Ackerman with De Bruin

Lions appoint De-Brain as head coach


11 July 2017, 15:12

The Lions Rugby Company on Tuesday announced the appointment of Swys de Bruin as head coach of the Lions and also revealed a list of key senior players that the franchise have retained.

De Bruin replaces Johan Ackermann after the Emirates Lions campaign in this years’ Super Rugby draws to a close.

Rudolf Straeuli, CEO of Lions Rugby (Pty) Ltd, said: “The Company is pleased to announce that De Bruin has put pen to paper for the position of head coach at the Lions.

“We believe it will bring continuity and stability within the different teams in the various competitions that we are taking part in.”

De Bruin is thankful for the opportunity given to him to extend his relationship with the Lions.

“I am thankful for the trust the board of directors put in me and look forward to the challenge. For now we are still totally focused on our campaign in the 2017 Super Rugby season.”

Key players have also agreed to terms ensuring the sustainability and growth within the franchise.

The following senior players will remain at the Franchise ensuring limited loss and player movement within the Emirates Lions:

Warren Whiteley 
Albertus Smith
Andries Coetzee 
Andries Ferreira (renewed) 
Anthony Volminck
Aphiwe Dyantyi
Corné Fourie
Courtnall Skosan (renewed) 
Cyle Brink

------I have often wondered if it was first Mitchell, and then Debruin as real brain behind the scene.

The options-
1. Mitchell trained the players like Jantjies, Whitely and co in both game plan and skills. Then Ackerman inherited the team- and rode the gravy train
2. Mitchell trained Ackerman into an Excellent coach.
3. Swiss took over and expanded the work of Mitchell. Ackerman wins the lottery twice, by doing little in option 1 and 3.

This is good news for the Lions. I think Ackerman and Swys are both very good coaches. But lets wait and see what they do with their respective teams next year...if there is a sudden decline, it'll point to who, if it was only one of them, was the brains in the outfit. 
Anyway, all that said, I am glad he is staying with the Lions. 

Mitchell's way of coaching has changed a lot since he left the Lions and it doesn't look like he is going to carry on with the Bulls where he left off with the Lions. This is what he said in an interview: In your autobiography, you wrote that you had grown as a coach and learned a lot since leaving the Lions in 2012. Can you elaborate on that? My coaching methodology from five years ago is quite different to my new coaching methodology. The biggest thing I’ve learned is that just because I value something, it doesn’t mean another person values that too. To build trust with people, it’s important to understand what they value. However, when I was at the Lions, I stood up for what I valued and that was important to me. You’ve said you want to bring Bulls fans back to Loftus. What expectations should they have for next season? Success goes deeper than just talent and team cohesion. Coaches are conditioned to winning and losing, but it can be dangerous to fall into the trap of only focusing on the outcome. Success at the Bulls will be more about filling Loftus and making a lot of people happy. That’s the responsibility we have as a team.

 Ha ha, sure. Let's see what happens when the first game starts 
I have a feeling he can't change his nature and he's an "in your face sort of guy" and that's what will reemerge as soon as he's under pressure. I hope they stick with him as he will get results.

@JW, I was on the N Tvl Wrestling Association Management and the president of the association was a real dcikhead and everybody, me included, thought that he was a real prcik but we were always either no 1 or no 2 in the country. I once had a chat with him and we both had a few beers and I asked him why is is always such a dcikhead. He said: "Always remember this...., Nice guys come second". Maybe there is method behind Mitchell's madness.

 Ceradyne, could be a deliberate strategy to be a d ick head but IMO it's his nature. It's only others that put labels on him but in his mind I bet the thinks he's doing his job and reacting naturally. Maybe he can smooth a few edges though. We will see how he goes.

JW, the irony is that back in the day the old NTvl was actually used to this kind of coach. Don't know how the millennials will deal with it though. Their most famous coach was Brig Buurman Van Zyl, a retired police brigadier. He took no crap from nobody but he was also one of the most loved coaches they ever had. He was the guy who pulled Naas Botha out of the U/20 varsity league straight into the NTvl first team. He was also the guy who used to take them to the Pretoria Police College training grounds and had them run up the famous "koppie" (hill). He used to whip them into the rucks and mauls with his famous leather whistle lanyard. I wonder what today's prima donnas would do under guys like that. Probably work him out like the guys at the Lions did with Mitchell.

 Well Cera, I don't think that you need to wonder too much. Our resultspaint a picture (that none of us would buy) it is far to easy to lay it all at the colour door. 

 SA rugby has gone soft. We need a kick ass coach with big brass balls and an iron jaw. Someone  like Mitch and/or Jimmy Stonehouse...man WP can do with a coach like Jimmy!