News24.com | Long since the glory days: Matfield cites poor facilities, mediocre coaching at once proud Lions

Ivan van Rooyen. (Photo by Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images)

• Bok legend Victor Matfield cites poor training facilities and an underpowered coaching group as factors for the Lions continuing to underperform.
• He believes head coach Ivan van Rooyen and co lack clout when put next to counterparts such as Jake White and John Dobson.
• The franchise's inability to produce Springboks means they will struggle to recruit big names and retain their emerging stars.

Sub-standard training facilities and a mediocre coaching group are severely hampering the Lions' efforts to recapture the glory years of the mid-2010s, when they were a dominant force in Super Rugby.

Springbok legend Victor Matfield pulled no punches when asked by an Irish journalist this week to explain why the men from Doornfontein are struggling to keep up with their better-performing counterparts in the URC.

The question was borne from the fact that a full-strength Lions couldn't tame an effective Leinster C team.

The towering former lineout magician is, in fact, well suited to provide an assessment as he was roped in as a coaching consultant by Swys de Bruin during the Lions' 2017 Currie Cup campaign. 

"They've struggled for the last few years," Matfield told a media call hosted by the URC this week.

"There was a three-year period where they really did well under Johan Ackermann and Swys by keeping a group of young, underrated and hungry players together for almost five years, knowing exactly how they wanted to play and gaining confidence to dominate in Super Rugby."

Matfield was in charge of several training sessions at the Johannesburg Stadium, an increasingly dilapidated white elephant from South Africa's hosting of the All-Africa Games in 1999.

He would have, no doubt, taken note of furnishings at the stadium, which is a short walk across the road from Ellis Park, that don't exactly do the stature of the franchise justice. 

"For me, where Ellis Park is situated and where they train [at Johannesburg Stadium] is a big problem," said Matfield.

"I really don't think a lot of players actually want to go there to train to be honest. The facilities aren't up to the standard of other teams."

However, the 45-year-old is more concerned about whether a coaching group headed by Ivan van Rooyen possesses the capabilities to get the best out of a talented, if underrated, group of players.

There's certainly ammunition for that argument as the Lions have had to deal with the fallout from a leaked MyPlayers survey conducted at the franchise, which revealed several reservations among the players over the standard of the coaching.

To add insult to injury, the franchise looks set to lose respected forwards coach Albert van den Berg, who launched legal action against technical analyst Chris Venter after the latter allegedly recorded private Whatsapp conversations from Van den Berg's laptop.

Venter apparently believes Van den Berg was the source of the leaked survey. 

"Not to be nasty to the men at the helm currently, but their coaching staff simply doesn't have the pull as the others teams'," said Matfield. 

"I actually told their chairman [Altmann Allers] at one stage that, if you had to choose between a talk from Jake White or one from the Lions coaches, you'd rather attend Jake's and aim to play for the Bulls because there would be a better chance of you becoming a Springbok.

"They haven't produced many Springboks over the past few years, so many of the top junior players choose other franchises because they believe they have a better chance of becoming national players."

That's not quite an accurate assertion as the Lions still contract some of the best junior players in the country and boast several brilliant rookies such as Jordan Hendrikse, Henco van Wyk, Ruan Venter and the Horns, Francke and Quan, in their senior squad.

Yet, as the departure of the gifted Wandi Simelane to the Bulls illustrated, those talents remain hot property for other suitors.

Last weekend's hosting of a double header at Ellis Park featuring the Bulls, Leinster and Zebre was also classified a failure as fans continued to stay away despite the added value of watching two matches in one afternoon.

Loftus will receive the four teams this weekend in what is expected to be a better match-day experience.

"The double header concept isn't new. We had a warm-up 'day' at Cape Town Stadium [in 2019] where the four Super Rugby teams played against each other and it was a big success," said Matfield.

"But Ellis Park's location [and the fortunes of the Lions] means staging a double header there (in Johannesburg's CBD) is going to be difficult. You don't get attendances over 10 000 to 15 000 there.

"Conversely, Loftus has been quite successful this season in terms of marketing matches and there was a record URC attendance for the derby against the Stormers.

"The Bulls play Leinster, arguably the biggest club side in the world, this weekend and that will have pulling power.

"I definitely believe Loftus can showcase that a double header concept is viable for the future."

The action at Loftus starts at 13:00 on Saturday.