Marais will know his fate soon
Speaking to the media following his side's 14-51 humbling at the hands of Trans-Juskei rivals the Lions, Marais revealed that the decision will be public when the time is right.
"I know exactly what is happening [regarding the future] as I have been in talks with the board. They will make an announcement when they feel the time is right," Marais said.
Newly-appointed captain Hanro Liebenberg stated that the team was informed about the status of Marais' position and stated that did not have an impact on their mental attitude towards the game.
"We had a meeting in the week where they [the board] informed us. That is not an excuse [to use] for the way we played because that decision is out of the players' control," Liebenberg said.
While neither party were able to be direct in their answer, it would seem – based on Liebenberg's answer – that Marais could be given the boot.
The coach pulled no punches in analysing his side's poor performance.
"Inconsistency is killing us. If you want to be a complete Super Rugby side, your setpieces need to consistent to have a platform to work from. You can't play off the back foot each game.
"We haven't done that [set a front foot platform] and that has led to 50-50 passes to try to get into space. If you make mistakes, you will be punished.
"We made mistakes and they [Lions] punished us. We ended up playing on the back foot, which limited our risk taking chances," Marais added.
Despite being kept scoreless in the second half, having trailed 14-39 at the break, Marais paid tribute to his young captain for the way he handled the situation.
"Hanro [Liebenberg] is a 21-year-old captaining a Super Rugby side. The way took control in the change room at half-time and during that second half will make him a great captain and Springbok down the line.
"He got the team to continue fighting and I feel that if that influence wasn't there, we could have conceded a lot more," he stated.
Marais added that he believes the Lions are right up there with the best in the competition.
"The Lions are a good team that are well coached and you can see that they have been playing together for a while. Their performance just proved how good they really are and are up there [with the best in the competition]," he said.
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