Lions sack Spencer & Taylor

[heineken]

Lions sack Spencer, Taylor
2012-08-02 13:27


Johannesburg - The Lions' coaching concerns were compounded on Thursday after the rugby franchise announced that assistants Carlos Spencer and Wayne Taylor had been sacked.

"The Golden Lions Rugby Union announced this morning that MTN Lions coaches Carlos Spencer (backline coach) and Wayne Taylor (conditioning coach) had their contracts terminated," the union said in a statement.

The Lions said Spencer and Taylor had been given notice of dismissal on Monday.

Head coach John Mitchell was suspended in June, following allegations of a player revolt, and was replaced on an interim basis by assistant coach Johan Ackermann.

Last season, Mitchell guided the Lions to their first Currie Cup title since 1999, but they ended the recently concluded Super Rugby campaign at the bottom of the log, having won only three of their 16 fixtures.

Things not looking good at the Lions at all. And this sparked another departure in young Paul Willemse also joining the Bulls the day after this happened.

[TRF_Draggs]

I wonder when Ruan Botha will follow. He is a talented young second row, who probably wants a stable team.
Not looking good for the Lions. Wait for Province to sign Jantjies.

[TRF_Ezequiel]

Or he might be moving to Durban with Freddy leaving and Plum getting a hard-on from using Lambie at full-back...

[Little Guy]

Strauss has also lost captaincy of the side.

[TRF_Ezequiel]

He didn't lose it, he wanted to focus on the playing first and suggested someone else to be captain. I agree, he is a flamboyant player, but apart from the beard (which he shaved off) he doesn't really do anything worth noticing. I think others are more suited.

[Little Guy]

He didn't lose it, he wanted to focus on the playing first and suggested someone else to be captain. I agree, he is a flamboyant player, but apart from the beard (which he shaved off) he doesn't really do anything worth noticing. I think others are more suited.

Thats my mistake I read other articles which had suggested/hinted that he lost it on form, good to hear thats not the case.

[TRF_Ezequiel]

The Lions just seem to suffer again after having such a good year in 2011. Winning the Currie Cup gave them the confidence but in the end they just gave it away again this year.

It is quite sad since they are a team with a very long and successful history in rugby and I hate to see them like this, despite it not being my favorite team.

[TRF_Draggs]

Or he might be moving to Durban with Freddy leaving and Plum getting a hard-on from using Lambie at full-back...

Mate, we've done it with many others, and we'll do it again.
Play a talented lad out of position for ****s and giggles and then lament losing them.
Meyer sees Lambie as a fullback as well, so his fate has been determined. What I would give for this lad to be Welsh.

[TRF_Ezequiel]

Pienaar, Steyn and Russell left the Sharks because they were played out of position all the time. If Lambie decides to leave because of this sh*t, I will personally travel to Durban to kick Plums ass.

[TRF_Draggs]

Pienaar, Steyn and Russell left the Sharks because they were played out of position all the time. If Lambie decides to leave because of this sh*t, I will personally travel to Durban to kick Plums ass.

Yep, and then we can play Hauptfleisch on the wing and Paul Jordaan on the flank.

[TRF_Ezequiel]

Well, Mtawarira started as a flanker when he joined the Sharks so playing out of position is not always a bad thing. Kanko should be a center, but Lambie is just the best, most complete, fly-half prospect we have in SA (Yes, the Goosen crush is getting ridiculous of some people).

[Little Guy]

You guys know the South African situation better than I do, what's the biggest problem facing the Lions? Is the talent pool in their region just too thin? Budget issues? Poor Management?

[stormer2010]

You guys know the South African situation better than I do, what's the biggest problem facing the Lions? Is the talent pool in their region just too thin? Budget issues? Poor Management?

It's a culture/management issue. Johannesburg being a **** city probably has something to do with it as the city is basically a wasteland around Ellis Park IMO. The region has been one of the stronger ones traditionally but with the city getting depopulated towards the surrounding suburbs and obvious bad support structures I totally understand why players don't stick around longer than they have to.

[heineken]

You guys know the South African situation better than I do, what's the biggest problem facing the Lions? Is the talent pool in their region just too thin? Budget issues? Poor Management?

The Lions have one of the biggest talent pools in the country with schools like Monument, Florida, EG Jansen as their core schools. With that they have the University of Johannesburg which is one of the biggest universities in the country and does very well every year in the varsity cup.

Budget issues and Poor Management is the sole reason that they are struggling. But those 2 things walk hand in hand with each other.

But SARU is also to blame for this as they put so much focus on development and getting the Kings into the Super 15 tournament that they completely forgot to assist one of the founding members of SA Rugby.