EXCLUSIVE: Inside the Hacjivah Dayimani ‘loan’, will he really return to the Lions?
The Lions rocked the South African rugby fraternity two weeks ago, when they announced that one of their most talented products Hacjivah Dayimani will be sent on loan to the Western Province.
Dayimani is said to be on loan at Western Province
The official line from the Lions was that, Dayimani would form part of the Western Province side on a temporary basis, just for the duration of the Currie Cup campaign. That in itself raised eyebrows from not only Lions supporters, but rugby supporters across the country
Not too long ago, Dayimani literally burst on to the senior rugby scene in South Africa for the Lions. A tall, well built loose forward with the speed of a winger. A player who could decide whether he wanted to bulldoze his opponent, or out sprint him to the corner flag. “who is this specimen? Where did he come from?” those, I’m sure would’ve been some of the questions on the lips of South African rugby lovers.
READ | LIONS LOAN OUT HACJIVAH DAYIMANI AND WIEHAHN HERBST TO CURRIE CUP RIVALS
He would soon progress to the Lions Super Rugby side the next year, and would not disgrace himself. The potential was apparent in Dayimani, all the ingredients one would put into the pot to cook a Springbok were already near the stove, but the chef, still needed to play a role, otherwise there is no dish to serve out to Springbok supporters.
Dayimani’s prospects started looking grim at the Lions
That particular chef in this case, would happen to be the Lions. In the early rounds of the curtailed 2020 Super Rugby season, Dayimani often found himself on the peripheries of the team’s starting line up. That was supposed to be the year where the boy turns into a man, in a rugby sense, takes the responsibility of being a prominent player in a young Lions side, and usher the union into it’s new era, but week after week it was becoming more apparent that the chef was starting to prefer a different receipe.
Dayimani saw himself behind the likes of Len Massyn and Vincent Tshituka for the eight and seven jerseys, positions you would feel he would regard himself as most comfortable at. It would’ve been a big blow to his confidence as he might of been thinking it was only a matter of time till he regained his place in the Lions side, but it quite simply wasn’t meant to be.
He never regained favour
Quite frankly, Dayimani had struggled to wrestle back a place in the Lions side since, with a few appearances in the Preparations Series and a late Rainbow Cup surge as much as he would have to settle for. The writing was perhaps already on the wall regarding his future at the Gauteng-based union, or rather the chef had taken off his or her cooking gear and clocked off.
The question still stood however, yes he had his injury problems in between all of the above, but now why would you let go of a now fully fit asset, loaning him out to a rival in a Currie Cup campaign that would’ve been perfect for getting some rugby and confidence back into the legs of Dayimani, especially with the Lions not exactly blessed with outstanding loose forward options beyond Tshituka and the departing Massyn. Unless…
He is thought to have already “officially” left the Lions
Perhaps the clue lies in the word that precedes Massyn in the previous paragraph, as a source has exclusively revealed to The South African.com that Dayimani moving to the Western Province may not be much of a loan after all. Quizzed on whether Dayimani would return to the Lions after this loan spell, the source didn’t mince his words.
Source confirms Dayimani’s exit
“ Yeah, he isn’t going back” said the source, before revealing the backstory to Dayimani’s loan
“Yeah, look Dayimani is gone, they let go of Hacjivah because it was agreed that they (Lions) were not aiding his development” revealed the source.
He then went on to reveal that the Lions have decided to go a different route.
The real reasons behind the dubious loan
“The term ‘loan’ was just to appease the fans from an outrage. The Lions see Ruhan (Straueli and son of current Lions Rugby company CEO Rudolf) as a better player than Dayimani”
He then proceeded to question the credibility of that route and sounding a warning of its potential long term effects.
“Ruhan Straueli? How can his signing be justified in any manner? He has been playing ahead of some players with actual potential, it will only force players to leave:” concluded the source.
Dayimani is not short of interested parties
A separate source had previously told this publication that the Stormers amongst two other unions from abroad were interested in Dayimani’s services. The unions were described as “an unnamed French club” as well an “Australian Super Rugby side” who harboured ambitions of converting Dayimani to wing.
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Whether the fact that he isn’t going back to the Lions and that he was loaned out to Western Province of all unions (Stormers, Western Province, hint hint) means that Dayimani will indeed remain in the city of his birth or he is just biding his time before taking up one of the overseas options, still remains to be seen.
One thing is for sure though, and that’s Dayimani will have a big decision to make when his contract expires later this year.
