VIDEO: 'I know where my place is in this franchise'
The Lions Rugby Company did their best media tap dance to control the narrative, but they appear to have failed miserably.
Lions Currie Cup coach Mziwakhe Nkosi dropped a big hint that he was reined in by his employers after a week of behind-the-scenes high drama.
If he had hopes or aspirations of an upgrade, that may have to be shelved for the foreseeable future.
Nkosi admitted that he needed to ‘choose his words carefully’, after a week in which the Lions management decided to parachute United Rugby Championship coach Ivan van Rooyen and his management in to take charge of the Currie Cup team.
Lions Rugby Company CEO Rudolf Straeuli stressed the importance of ‘alignment and cohesion’ towards success in all competitions his teams are involved in.
“With the commencement of the SA Rugby Cup [junior competitions] as well the Currie Cup nearing the business end, there will be amalgamation of management teams and particularly that of Mziwakhe [Nkosi] in his capacity as coach of Currie Cup and Development Rugby and a large part of his management teams who have both served in the Currie Cup as well as the junior teams in a similar fashion to the previous season,” Straeuli explained.
“Van Rooyen, in his capacity as URC head coach alongside his management, will play a more pronounced role with the introduction of these players,” he concluded.
Nkosi admitted he would have liked to have more senior players at his disposal during the season.
“One has to work with the best that the franchise has to offer,” he said in a post-match briefing after the URC- and Springbok-laded Lions team ravaged the Bulls 44-5 in a Currie Cup Round Six encounter at Ellis Park at the weekend.
“I also know where my place is in the franchise,” he said of a day in which he sat in the coaching box for three matches – including the Under-19 (42-28) and Under-21 (78-28) routs of their respective Cheetahs age-group rivals, followed by the Trans-Jukskei Currie Cup derby.
“It was a long day for me today [Saturday],” he added.
As was the case earlier in the season, when Van Rooyen was seen hovering over his shoulder in matches like the loss to Boland in Wellington, the URC boss was present in the coaching box after he took charge of training sessions in the build-up.
Nkosi was also surrounded by all of Van Rooyen’s backroom staff in the coaching box this past weekend – the likes of Ricardo Loubscher, Barend Pieterse and Jaque Fourie.
While Nkosi was seated in the front of the box, Van Rooyen was ever-present.
Others like Julian Redelinghuys and Morné Steyn were ‘running water’ on the field.
Nkosi’s regular Currie Cup supporting staff, like Wessel Roux and Wynand Ellis, who were involved in the age-group games, were nowhere to be seen during the Currie Cup fixture.
He attempted to downplay the developments by pointing out that other franchises like the Bulls (Johan Ackermann, Sharks (John Plumtree) and Stormers (John Dobson) will do the same with their Currie Cup teams in the coming weeks.
(WATCH as Lions Currie Cup coach Mziwakhe Nkosi reacts to his ‘demotion’ in the build-up to the weekend’s match…..)
However, he admitted the Lions work in a specific ‘ecosystem’ where he disseminates his time between the Currie Cup and junior teams.
“Last year I coached all three teams to the Final, and the Under-19 team won their league,” he said.
He admitted that he may have used some less-than-desirable language in the dressing room after the team’s loss to the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein the week before.
“It stands to reason that if you play like we did against the Cheetahs [a 31-47 loss] a coach will share how he really feels,” Nkosi said.
“Hopefully that is not only reserved for one Johan Erasmus and hopefully a coach can share his feelings.
“We were not in a World Cup, but for us the Currie Cup is an important competition and if the team doesn’t perform we will share our feelings.”
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