The Golden Lions Rugby Union announced yesterday morning that  the contracts of backline coach Carlos Spencer and conditioning coach had been terminated and they had been given notice of dismissal on Monday.

  Their contracts were linked to suspended head coach John Mitchell, which would  indicate that Mitchell has also reached the end of the road at the Lions.
Mitchell’s arbitration case is in recess and will only continue on September 10.

Earlier this week Strauss    stepped down as captain, deciding  to     concentrate on his own game instead.

He is replaced as  captain by prop JC Janse van Rensburg for  tonight’s warm-up game against the  Blue Bulls at Wits, which will serve as an experimental  opportunity for the opening Absa Currie Cup game at home against the Cheetahs next weekend.

Strauss is the second captain to step down since last year, with lock Franco van der Merwe   deciding last season to  hand the captaincy over to centre Doppies la Grange.

Apart from Strauss, Van der Merwe and La Grange, the Lions also used veteran Cobus Grobbelaar as captain, which means Van Rensburg will become the fifth captain the Lions have used over the past two seasons.

Strauss has been moved to blindside flank in place of Grant Hatting who preferred to continue his career in Pretoria, while Derick Minnie moves to No 8 and  Jaco Kriel comes in as  openside flank.

Sixteen players have been named on the bench, and there’s   a return from injury for Van der Merwe and  fullback Andries Coetzee for the Currie Cup champions.