Johannesburg — The Lions Rugby Company (LRC) will not get drawn into speculation regarding an alleged recording in which the union’s coaches raised a number of issues amongst themselves concerning their upper management structures.
On Thursday, IOL Sport reached out for comment after Rugby365 published a story in which it reported that a meeting between the coaching staff – including its senior members – was held after their 44-28 loss to the Western Province in the opening round of the Currie Cup this past weekend.
“We cannot comment on an audio recording we have not heard,” was the official comment from the union regarding the latest revelations.
As stated in the report, the recording discussed the possibility of the coaching staff confronting LRC CEO Rudolf Straeuli with their grievances. These include “Straeuli’s ongoing ‘interference’ and involvement in training schedules, gameplans and selection” and “a growing malcontent towards (Tracy) van Ginkel (the union’s manager of contracts and operations) in the coaching and players’ ranks”.
The union could not confirm if such an interaction between Straeuli and the coaches had occurred.
In late February, news of a fracture between the players, coaching staff and management at the union broke, revealing that there was a degree of discontent within the union. These issues related to poor team management during the Lions’ tour of Europe in January; and a perceived lack of faith in the coaching structures after a MyPlayers review.
Straeuli vowed, in an interview with IOL Sport at the time, to attend to the concerns raised during “hotdog-gate”.
Nonetheless, and if the latest news is true, the Lions will go into their Currie Cup match against the defending champions, the Pumas, on Friday under another cloud. The United Rugby Championship returns to action next week as well, with the senior squad members travelling to Treviso, Italy, to face Benetton.
IOL Sport