Lions Head Coach Swys de Bruin has signed a two-year extension with the Lions that will keep him at the Johannesburg side until the end of 2021.
de Bruin, who took over from Johan Ackermann midyear 2017, lead the franchise to a third consecutive Super Rugby final in his first season in charge where he also stumbled at the final hurdle.
“Swys will remain at the Lions and has extended his contract until 2021 with the franchise. Lions Rugby remains a system driven franchise focused on stability within the structures of our players and coaches,” Straeuli said in a statement released by the union.
This comes off the back of an announcement last month that de Bruin had also signed a contract with SA Rugby that formalizes his position as assistant coach for the Spingboks until he end of the World Cup in Japan.
The 59-year-old attack guru has had a tough season this year with so many of his experienced players that still remain at the union being sidelined with injury, forcing him to dip into his youth structures.
De Bruin has said that he has no issue playing youngsters and this is paying dividends for SA Rugby with Junior World Cup stars Wandisile Simelane, Tyrone Green and Gianni Lombard all having made impressive starts to their Super Rugby career while 20-year-old loose forward Vincent Tshituka showed plenty of promise before getting injured.
De Bruin will welcome back Cyle Brink for their clash this weekend while the backline will feature no less than 6 Springboks with Green the only uncapped player but a seasoned Junior Bok.
