Johannesburg - Vaughen Isaacs remains an enigmatic figure for most Lions supporters, but as he looks towards the Currie Cup, the flyhalf believes that he can make a statement when the tournament starts this weekend.
The former Baby Bok has a healthy chance of being heavily involved in head coach Mzwakhe Nkosi’s plans for this year’s tournament as the Lions juggle fixtures in the United Rugby Championship (URC), the EPCR Challenge Cup and Currie Cup.
With Jordan Hendrikse recovering from injury, and Gianni Lombard’s commitments to the URC taking precedence, the responsibility of controlling play at pivot in the elite domestic competition could fall squarely onto Isaacs’ shoulders.
Isaacs – a former Bulls man – played a limited number of Currie Cup games in a disastrous campaign last season for the Lions, his final outing the 45-10 drubbing suffered at the hands of eventual champions, the Pumas, in Nelspruit in April. He, therefore, has a lot to prove if he does get selected in the No 10 jumper.
“Personally, it is to grow day-by-day and match-by-match,” the 24-year-old said on Tuesday to Independent Media.
“Obviously, I haven’t been selected in a while, so it will just be for me to do the basics right, to manage the team to the best of my abilities and also find my form again - if I am selected, hopefully. It is about understanding my role in the team and serving them to the best of my abilities, to play in the right direction and to take us forward.”
The Lions only won two of their 12 games in the 2022 competition, suffering a gaggle of embarrassing defeats. An ill-advised strategy of splitting the team’s playing resources into two squads – one for the Currie Cup and the other, more senior, for the URC – saw the union field inexperienced players to compete in the former for most of the tournament.
Their youthful exuberance was brutally exposed by more wily opposition. Nkosi also had limited opportunity to install consistency in his matchday selections, with the team’s make-up constantly changing.
That should not be the case this season – Nkosi remains in charge, but will be able to call on the full support of the URC management team, while having access to all the players in the greater squad ... within reason.
Explained Isaacs: “Last year, there was a bit of chaos for us as a union in finding our feet in the URC … we didn’t have enough depth in our players and we had a young squad.
“We can’t always go back and say, ‘it is a young squad’. For us, this year, we have to fully take accountability on the field, as well as off it. If we can do that right, we will be sharp.
“Last year we had a lot of changes, and the results speak for themselves. We must go with one team and back it throughout the season.
“Obviously, there will be changes here and there but we must have a foundation and sticking to that will be important.”
As such, Isaacs hides behind no abstruse objectives regarding the goals of the Lions in the Currie Cup this year.
"I think this is very, very important,” he said.
“We haven’t been at our peak (in the Currie Cup) in years. We, as the Lions, need to start roaring again, get our fans in and make ourselves proud – that is where it starts.
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“We must play for the jersey with pride.
“It is very important for us to have a great start, grow week-by-week and focus on the positives. In the past, there were a lot of negatives that we allowed to get within our system from the outside.
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“We must get tighter and grow from that. The goal is definitely to win every game but if that does not happen, we must build on what we believe in as a team and strive towards that.”
The Lions open their 2023 Currie Cup account against the Western Province on Saturday at Emirates Airline Park (kick-off 3.30pm).
IOL Sport