Despite what has been described in some quarters as a financial shambles at the Lions rugby union, the Currie Cup champions have received a major boost from a multi-million rand three-year sponsorship from Redefine Properties.

While the money will also help secure the careers of the promising new batch of players being groomed under coach John Mitchell, the investment has an even more significant bearing on the future of Ellis Park.

Golden Lions Rugby Union president Kevin de Klerk has portrayed himself as a tradionalist – in fact, he told the story of his childhood hero, Piet Botha, at the announcement of Redefine’s sponsorship: “When I was young, I aspired to play lock next to Piet Botha, who was my hero. He used to arrive at practice on horseback from Krugersdorp. I myself walked a long way to get to training – my kids say it gets longer the older I get!” De Klerk joked.

But there’s no doubting De Klerk wants the Lions to stay at Ellis Park, even though the scarred surrounds and general deterioration of the surrounding area seemingly makes that a silly idea given the availability of the FNB and Orlando stadiums.

But Redefine, who are listed on the JSE as one of South Africa’s largest property owners, are also highly enamoured of the Ellis Park area.

While the Springboks love playing at Ellis Park because of the intimidating surrounds – visitors don’t even feel particularly safe on a bus – Redefine see the Doornfontein area as a major drawcard.

“We have invested heavily in this precinct, we own more than R200 million worth of property here, and there’s also a lot of student accommodation being built. We believe this area will flourish,” Redefine chief operating officer David Rice said.

While De Klerk admitted going to the renamed CocaCola Park can be inconvenient for rank-and-file supporters, the former Transvaal and Springbok legend could not hide his delight that Redefine, who approached the union about the sponsorship, had given the stadium a massive vote of confidence.

“It means that we will stay here for the time being. We have another 75 years on our lease for the land and we own all the buildings and fixtures. It shows a lot of confidence on their part, they see ways of growing the surrounds and they believe the area has great potential.

“I know I wouldn’t like to park my car outside and have it broken into all the time, but a top businessman told me he chose a plebs’ ticket for the Currie Cup final, used the Park-and-Ride and he said it was a wonderful experience. But we must make the area a whole lot more user-friendly,” De Klerk said.

The Lions took another hit over their financial position at the weekend, but De Klerk said it was far more optimistic than many critics had suggested.

“In spite of all the bad publicity, Redefine have assessed us very closely and decided to nail their colours to our cross. We also have Altman Allers as an equity partner and he is an extremely competent, high-profile businessman.

“Our legacy issue should be sorted out in the very near future and the Redefine sponsorship has gone a long way to alleviating it. We cannot coccoon ourselves from what has happened in the rest of the world and, like all businesses, we’ve had to right-size ourselves.

“I’m ultra-optimistic. When I became president, I found a fractured union and there was a lot of work to be done. But I believe the team is our shop window and it has done exceptionally well,” De Klerk said.

The inclusion of the Southern Kings in SuperRugby from next year is the biggest worry on De Klerk’s plate and he admitted that it would be devastating for the Lions if they were the franchise to make way.

“Merging with another franchise is not even an option, it would kill the unions involved. It is an extremely hard one, we all agree the Southern Kings must come in, it’s just the method we need to decide.

“But it is like turkeys voting for Christmas and if we don’t get it right, then our whole legacy will be gone and everything around the union – the schools and clubs – will be affected too,” De Klerk warned.

Finding common ground with the Super Rugby franchises and northern hemisphere clubs who have potential Springboks will be Heyneke Meyer’s priority, the new South Africa coach said on Monday.

Meyer was appointed on Friday as former coach Peter de Villiers’ successor and will be tasked with rebuilding a Springbok team that has lost stalwarts in captain John Smit and vice-captain Victor Matfield, while the international futures of stars such as Fourie du Preez, Jaque Fourie, Danie Rossouw, Gurthro Steenkamp and Francois Steyn are in doubt because they are based overseas.

This year’s SuperRugby competition runs from February through to August, with Meyer’s first assignment sandwiched in the middle as England visit South Africa for three tests in June.

“SuperRugby is going to put pressure on. All of the franchises want to win, I’m realistic enough to know that, so it’s a big challenge. But it’s also the first year that there are three tests in the middle of the competition and there is no successful method to go back and see what works.

“It’s a fresh challenge and I would like to have a national planning session. I’m on good terms with most of the franchise coaches and I want to see if we can come to a win/win situation, especially in terms of conditioning, which will require a big step up,” Meyer told reporters in Pretoria on Monday.

“I also want to see if it’s possible for me to go overseas and speak to the players there. I’ve spoken to a lot of agents to see who’s available and who’s not available, but we have some quality players overseas.

“The conditioning of the players in the northern hemisphere is one of my concerns. The Heineken Cup is a very tough competition and a lot of the players are conditioned very well, but they peak at different times and I have a few ideas I need to discuss with them and the clubs, again to see if we can come to a win/win situation.”

Meyer stressed that it was also up to the players to show mental toughness in the face of playing schedules that have become more and more demanding.

“We need to rotate players better at SuperRugby level, but I’m also a big believer in mental toughness and the more the players hear and read about burnout, the more they believe it. We can’t make excuses about conditioning, we need to plan and manage our players better,” Meyer said.

The former Bulls director of rugby said one of his other immediate tasks will be to study current rugby trends and make sure the Springboks adapt to the changes in the game.

“I’ve studied a lot of rugby lately and the game changes every six months with the new law interpretations. If you’re not adapting to those changes, you’re going to be left behind.

“The one definite thing that has to change is our conditioning. The guys are playing much more rugby and the game is much quicker; most tests are lost in the last 10 minutes, so you need athletic players.

“It will be important for me to do a lot of research because the game has definitely changed. It’s imperative, though, that we still use our strengths to our advantage and the basics are always the same. We have our own style and we must stick to that.

“I would like to install a national style of play and defence, but I’m realistic enough to know that you can’t force it,” Meyer said.