Lions flank Victor Sekekete is a player who's been on the fringes for a long time, waiting to break into the senior squad. Photo: Lee Warren/Gallo Images.
The Lions set the tone in local rugby on various fronts, be it in results or their attacking way of playing.
But there is one area where they lag behind: transformation.
During last year’s Super Rugby campaign, where Johan Ackermann’s troops finished as runners-up, they were accused of lacking a diverse squad.
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In fact, even the South African Rugby Union (Saru) pointed this out during a presentation to parliament’s sport and recreation portfolio committee.
The Lions only averaged 17% non-white representation in their match-day squads – four players out of 23 – which was the lowest of all the six local franchises.
Saru’s target is 35%.
But this week, Ackermann gave the assurance increased black representation is “an aspect people can look forward to this year”.
“Obviously, there have been a few players who over the past three years have shown they have the ability to perform consistently at the highest level,” he said.
“We’re fortunate enough to have some of them with us still.”
But are established players such as Elton Jantjies, Lionel Mapoe, Howard Mnisi, Courtnall Skosan and Sylvian Mahuza enough?
That’s where the tricky part of the transformation debate comes in.
Ackermann and his coaching staff are firm believers of favouring the quality of an opportunity over the quantity of players being chosen.
As a result, they generally only pick 4-5 non-white players per game but they are regarded as key players.
Some might argue that’s actually the point of transformation.
“We’re very excited about our up and coming black players. Hopefully they will get an opportunity soon,” said Ackermann.
“But we also need to fair in this regard. We need to be sure that a player can handle the pressure of a given game. If I’m going to back a player, I want to give him a fair opportunity.
“I want him to show us he’s the best. I don’t want a player to feel he’s being unfairly being put on the spot.”
Nonetheless, the Lions are gradually starting to show more faith in young black players.
That’s illustrated by two of their 19-year-olds, Hacjivah Dayimani (loose foward) and Madosh Tambwe (wing), being included in the match squad for Saturday’s warm-up against a composite club side.
“Those two players are shoo-ins for the South African Under-20 squad this year,” said Ackermann.
“They are two great talents and were exceptional for our Under-19s last season, who won the Currie Cup. They haven’t looked out of place when they trained with the senior squad.”
Others also hoping to stake a claim are Selom Gavor (wing), Fabian Booysen (loose forward), Marvin Orie (lock), Sti Sithole (prop), Victor Sekekete (loose forward), Bobby de Wee (lock) and JP du Preez (lock).
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