Provinces skipper Luke has point to prove to de Villiers

THE Lions have every reason to remember Heinrich Brussow, the flanker South African coach Pieter de Villiers chose to ignore.

Brossow played for the Free State Cheetahs last week against the tourists and tormented them almost from start to finish. The wonder was he wasn’t named Man of the Match after holding centre-stage.

It’s not often you get internationals stars giving credit to the opposition but there wasn’t a dissenting voice as the Lions players, to a man, sang Brussow’s praises.

But time moves on and Ian McGeechan’s side face a different challenge at Newlands tomorrow and might have cause to remember another hot Springbok back row contender here in Western Province captain Luke Watson, who also has a point to prove to the national boss.

Watson could be a similar thorn in the side of the tourists. He might have been part of a Stormers squad that struggled through the Super 14 campaign, but Watson is highly rated in these parts. The news from de Villiers that he is now only rated the third best number eight in the country behind Pierre Spies and Ryan Kankowski – wasn’t greeted well.

Yet, Watson only sees the game as an opportunity to make his mark and he promises not to let the possibility of personal glory get in the way of victory.

“This is all about helping Western Province secure a result, it’s certainly not about me or my chances of getting into the Springboks squad.

“ People are attaching a lot to this game from many different angles. It is very important to recognise this match is a continuation of what we achieved in the latter stages of the Super 14.

“We finished strongly and are now leading up to the Currie Cup.

“From that point of view, even though the Lions game is in isolation, it is an important game. Having said that, we would, of course, be delighted to take a scalp and beating the Lions is a big scalp.

“It’s great to be named captain, but that in itself means nothing. My policy about captaincy is you always want to provide a team with leaders. I see myself as only one of them. It is necessary to have different guys calling the shots in all areas of the pitch; the more, the merrier.”

Meanwhile, there has been a fall-out from the Lions tour with yesterday’s confirmation Golden Lions President Jannie Ferreira has resigned. Ferreira became immersed in controversy a few weeks ago when he ousted head coach Eugene Eloff after the side finished 12th in the Super 14.

Local clubs run the Golden Lions franchise and moved swiftly after the touring side inflicted a record defeat on their men. Farreira claimed the resignation came about because of “pressure of the job” and said his decision was made before any pressure was exerted by the various clubs. That pressure was, apparently, considerable over the last 72 hours and left Farreira with no choice but to go.