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Admission of stress-related illness by Lions coach highlights the damage pressure can do

Lions coach Swys de Bruin quit their New Zealand tour due to medical reasons (Photo by Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images/Getty Images)

Lions coach Swys de Bruin has claimed he quit his team’s Super Rugby tour of New Zealand for medical reasons.

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Speculation has arisen that de Bruin had some sort of falling out with his squad, but the coach has insisted that he returned early to South Africa for treatment on a stress-related condition.

The Lions kicked off their two-match New Zealand trip with a win last Friday over the Chiefs in Hamilton and they are preparing to face Crusaders in Christchurch this Friday again without their boss, a situation that has left conditioning coach Ivan van Rooyen handling team preparations.

There has been rumours of a disagreement on team selection with officials at the Lions union, but a message from de Bruin insisted that medical reasons was why he left the squad prior to their opener in Hamilton.

“I give you a 100 per cent guarantee that there is no break between me and anyone at the team or in my team. There was no meddling, orders or pressure from their side,” said de Bruin.

“The team knows what I am going through and they support me totally. This is solely a personal, medical situation that I need professional help to sort out.

“The team doctor, after I spoke to my wife and (CEO) Rudolf (Straueli), recommended I head home to get the professional help here. This is what is best for me and the team at the moment.

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“The bond between me and my players is of such a sort that I don’t for one moment believe they think I dropped them. In contrast, their support and prayers and positive messages have helped me in this time.

“The passion that they played against the Chiefs should confirm this and I’m very proud of every player and management member.

“I have the fullest confidence in my coaching team and management and I am constantly in contact with them to plan the next game.”

The Lions are running second in the South African conference, just a point before the Bulls after five wins in nine matches.

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Nickers 24 minutes ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

I thought we made a lot of progress against that type of defence by the WC last year. Lots of direct running and punching holes rather than using width. Against that type of defence I think you have to be looking to kick on first phase when you have front foot ball which we did relatively successfully. We are playing a lot of rugby behind the gain line at the moment. They are looking for those little interchanges for soft shoulders and fast ball or off loads but it regularly turns into them battering away with slow ball and going backwards, then putting in a very rushed kick under huge pressure.


JB brought that dimension when he first moved into 12 a couple of years ago but he's definitely not been at his best this year. I don't know if it is because he is being asked to play a narrow role, or carrying a niggle or two, but he does not look confident to me. He had that clean break on the weekend and stood there like he was a prop who found himself in open space and didn't know what to do with the ball. He is still a good first phase ball carrier though, they use him a lot off the line out to set up fast clean ball, but I don't think anyone is particularly clear on what they are supposed to do at that point. He was used really successfully as a second playmaker last year but I don't think he's been at that role once this year. He is a triple threat player but playing a very 1 dimensional role at the moment. He and Reiko have been absolutely rock solid on defence which is why I don't think there will be too much experimentation or changes there.

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