OPINION: Unhappy Lions fans will have to ‘vasbyt’ this URC season

Here we go again.

That seems to be the sentiment of a number of Lions rugby fans following the team’s third straight defeat on tour in the early stages of the new season of the United Rugby Championship.

The majority of comments on social media suggest fans have had enough of the poor showings by the Lions in the URC and many want changes to the coaching team, with Ivan van Rooyen a big target of criticism, and CEO Rudolf Straeuli out of his position.

The Lions have lost to Cardiff (33-20), Zebre (22-20) and Benetton (41-15) in their opening three matches, all away from home, and it’s no secret Cardiff and Zebre are not the strongest teams.

After the first three rounds, the Lions are 15th out of 16 teams on the points table, with one point. Their next two matches are at least at home, against Scarlets and Ulster, and they’ll hopefully pick up at least one win; with their best chance against Scarlets, who the Stormers smashed 34-0 in Wales on Friday, but Ulster will be confident of winning at Ellis Park after beating the Bulls 28-7 in Ireland.

Who is to blame?

Lions fans want change — it’s that simple.

There were rumours at the end of last season of a coaching shake-up likely happening before the start of this season, but that didn’t happen. And fans are asking, as they should, why would anything be different this time around, with the same coaches, and majority of players, in the mix.

But who is to blame for the Lions’ weak showing in the URC? Who is responsible… the CEO, the coaches, or the players? Or is it a combination of all these?

There are many questions, such as: Are there coaches out there who’d want the Lions job? Is there money to contract top-class players, and if so, would they want to join the Lions?

The names of Jimmy Stonehouse and Jake White have been mentioned as options to take charge. It’s unlikely anything will change now that the season has started, so Lions fans will have to vasbyt and hope the early season wobbles are just that.