AUDIO: Lions officials at odds over 'cheating' claims

LISTEN as the Lions’ interim coach Ivan van Rooyen contradicts his Chief Executive Officer Rudolf Straeuli over claims that they deliberately mislead the Chiefs last week.

The Lions completed their three-match Australasian tour with a 10-36 loss to the Crusaders in Christchurch on Friday.

That was preceded by a 20-31 loss to the Brumbies in the tour opener in Canberra and the 23-17 win over the Chiefs in Hamilton.

It is the second tour match, a rare win in New Zealand by the Lions, that set the cat among the pigeons.

Straeuli told the South African media his team deliberately deceived the Chiefs by naming Springboks hooker Malcolm Marx and flyhalf Elton Jantjies on the bench, before shifting them into the starting side prior to kick-off.

“It was a tactical move to announce the team like that because we wanted the Chiefs to believe they were not going to play,” Straeuli told Afrikaans outlet Netwerk24.

“With Malcolm on the bench, the Chiefs opted to rest some of their heavy forwards. With him in the starting team we could take them on at scrum time and it worked well. The foundation for our victory was laid up front.”

The New Zealand media and some of the Lions’ most staunch critics took exception to this statement, claiming it is “cheating”.

Van Rooyen – standing in as head coach for Swys de Bruin, who returned home, with a stress-related medical condition, on the eve of the Chiefs clash – refuted his CEO’s statement,

“[It was] definitely not the case,” Van Rooyen told a post-match media briefing in Christchurch, following the loss to the Crusaders.

“It was the plan to put them [Marx and Jantjies] on the bench [against the Chiefs],” he said.

“We have to manage their minutes for the World Cup with the Springboks.

“That is why Malcolm [Marx] didn’t play tonight [Friday]. And Elton has got to get managed as well once we get back [home].

“So the plan was to put them on the bench and if we really had to put them on the field we would put them on the field. But the week we had, we felt we can’t start without them.”

While SANZAAR rules require teams to name their matchday 23 at least 48 hours before matches, it is quite common that teams make late changes.

• Also read the Crusaders versus Lions match report!

Van Rooyen said he is comfortable filling in for De Bruin – who told @rugby365com this week that he is “much better” after getting great medical help in South Africa and will return to the team as soon as he feels he is capable.

Van Rooyen was not willing to speculate on how long he might be running the ship for.

“My kind of personality is to take things head on.

“I like to learn and to move forward. So luckily I had a little bit of a taste as head coach of the Currie Cup team.

“At the Lions, we have systems and structures in place. My job is just to facilitate that at this stage.”

@rugby365com