It was confirmed that MyPlayers, the organisation of professional players in South Africa conducted a survey in which the Emirates Lions staff was given "very low" ratings. It was also confirmed that the survey was done countrywide and was not limited to just the Emirates Lions.
According to the reports Emirates Lions players gave head coach Ivan van Rooyen a lowly rating of just four out of 10 while conditioning coach Stefan van Deventer got one, backline, attack, and skills coach Ricardo Laubscher got four, forwards and line-out coach Albert van den Berg and defence Jacques Fourie got seven and eight out of 10.
However, the accuracy and integrity of the Emirates Lions' "ratings" could not be confirmed.
Lions Company CEO Rudolf Straeuli said to rugby365.com he is aware of the survey, but has not personally seen the results and was unwilling to comment on the report.
“I have faith in the MyPlayers process, they are very professional in how they handle these issues. It is a process also followed at other franchises, so this is not some witch-hunt at the Lions. There is no witch hunt on the players or coaches."
“When that survey comes back to me and there is unhappiness I will deal with it. I won’t sweep it under the carpet.”
“There is no value in me critiquing individuals in public, be that a player or coach.”