The Lions have kept Ivan van Rooyen as their Currie Cup coach for the 2019 edition of the tournament which kicks off in July.
Van Rooyen took the reins during last year’s Currie Cup while Vodacom Super Rugby head coach Swys de Bruin was involved with the Springboks coaching setup. Van Rooyen guided the Lions to the semi-finals, where they were knocked out by the Sharks in Durban.
The fitness guru temporarily stepped in as Super Rugby head coach during the Lions’ Australasian tour, when De Bruin returned to South Africa with a stress-related condition.
With De Bruin once again stepping up to the Springboks, Van Rooyen has retained his role as Currie Cup head coach.
Consistency was the key in the LRC’s appointment of the Coach of the @Xerox Golden Lions for the 2019 DirectAxis @TheCurrieCup season. Ivan van Rooyen will retain the role of head coach of the Lions after they just missed out on a spot in the final last year.#LionsPride pic.twitter.com/dbjwuhG3Z1
— Xerox Golden Lions (@LionsRugbyCo) June 28, 2019
The Lions have also announced that wing Courtnall Skosan has signed a contract extension with the union until 2021.
Player Announcement@Skosan14 has committed to Lions Rugby until 2021. Skosan joined the Lions in 2014 and has since played 72 Vodacom Super Rugby matches for the Lions, which includes 33 tries and 165 points.#LionsPride pic.twitter.com/7OGUiHuMpk
— Xerox Golden Lions (@LionsRugbyCo) June 28, 2019
Photo: Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images