British & Irish Lions v South Africa

Infidel Castro

Infidel Castro

New member
So, 3 days till the first match. Playing a Royal Highveld XV. I think the team is being announced later this evening here. Every four years these tours occur, and I absolutely love them. The first one I watched as a lad of drinking age was the South Africa tour of (I think) 1997. Scott Gibbs flattening Os du Randt, Neil Jenkins\' boot keeping us in touch, Guscott dropping an important goal in almost laughable circumstances (I\'m sure he shat himself and kicked to avoid being clobbered, but what the hey!), Tait and Bentley and Bateman as the dark horses...a brilliant win.

Discuss!
 
Infidel Castro

Infidel Castro

New member
I think it was earlier than 1997 now I mention it. I\'m getting old :(

Edit: Nope, it was indeed 1997. 2-1 series win v South Africa. I\'m still old though.
 
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Ritual

New member
You display a phenomenon I\'ve seen with many sports journalists... They can write full articles about a sports event or an athlete or something, and not even with a single word refer to what sport it is. Just taking for granted that the readers know that already... ;)
 
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Torn blue sky

New member
The man\'s on about Rugby ;)

I\'d love to be watching it, but I\'m gonna be laid up since i\'m having an Op to fix my broken face tomorrow!
There is still a chance i\'ll be able to catch it though. (If i\'m not in the 1% that goes blind from it)


(Damn disclaimers)
 
Infidel Castro

Infidel Castro

New member
Originally posted by Torn blue sky
The man\'s on about Rugby ;)

I\'d love to be watching it, but I\'m gonna be laid up since i\'m having an Op to fix my broken face tomorrow!
There is still a chance i\'ll be able to catch it though. (If i\'m not in the 1% that goes blind from it)


(Damn disclaimers)
Click to expand...

:eek:

Dear god!

Fingers crossed for you mate. Incredible.

Ritual - sorry old chap, rugby\'s the name, chasing eggs is the game. The Union version, not league.

Team is being announced today...
 
Infidel Castro

Infidel Castro

New member
Lee Byrne (Ospreys/Wales), Tommy Bowe (Ospreys/Ireland), Keith Earls (Munster/Ireland), Jamie Roberts (Cardiff Blues/Wales), Shane Williams (Ospreys/Wales); Ronan O\'Gara (Munster/Ireland), Mike Blair (Edinburgh/Scotland); Andrew Sheridan (Sales Sharks/England), Matthew Rees (Scarlets/Wales), Adam Jones (Ospreys/Wales), Simon Shaw (London Wasps/England), Paul O\'Connell (Munster/Ireland - captain), Joe Worsley (London Wasps/England), Martyn Williams (Cardiff Blues/Wales), Andy Powell (Cardiff Blues/Wales).
Replacements: Lee Mears (Bath/England), Phil Vickery (London Wasps/England), Alun-Wyn Jones (Ospreys/Wales), Stephen Ferris (Ulster/Ireland), Mike Phillips (Ospreys/Wales), Stephen Jones (Scarlets/Wales), Riki Flutey (London Wasps/England).
 
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Aidan K

New member
The Lions tours to New Zealand have always been great fun. Mostly because the All Blacks always win, by hook or by crook...

Hoping you batter the springboks prior to the tri-nations!
 
Infidel Castro

Infidel Castro

New member
Well, if a fool like Woodward (World Cup aside) is put in charge of a touring outfit that requires instant bonding, things are going to go wrong pretty quickly lol

It was embarrassing watching the Lions capitulate in NZ. Awful. McGeechan\'s the man to gel these boys. The tests might be quite tight.
 
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Aidan K

New member
How much preparation do they get as a squad before they get into this first warm up game? It struck me that at times the Lions have been well less than the sum of the individuals in the team, and was wondering if a short preparation was a cause.

Hopefully the irish pub down the road has the tests on!
 
Infidel Castro

Infidel Castro

New member
Originally posted by Aidan K
How much preparation do they get as a squad before they get into this first warm up game? It struck me that at times the Lions have been well less than the sum of the individuals in the team, and was wondering if a short preparation was a cause.

Hopefully the irish pub down the road has the tests on!
Click to expand...

I\'d say 2-3 weeks all told. It\'s about learning on the way through, playing it simple to start and then building but keeping some in reserve for the tests.

Stroll on tomorrow :D
 
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Torn blue sky

New member
We only get a token countryman in that bloody squad! I bet even that\'s for PC reasons.
Can\'t say I blame them like, our national squads are always dire at best lol If anything he\'s probably buggered it all up for you already!

Ah well it\'s a small victory against \"PC\" at least.
 
S

Springbok

New member
Wow, Royal XV?

I\'m probably being very biased here, but the Lions need to pull up their socks!
The Royal XV were an invitation team, comprising of players from teams ( not good enough to play in the super14 tournament ) from the northern parts of South Africa.
The class of the competition is going to go up drasticly!

But on the other hand, I can understand why the Lions struggled. I grew up and played rugby in Rustenburg for 17 years, the pitch is rock solid, the temperatures can reach 42 degrees centigrade and the fans are VERY scary. So kudos to the Lions for pulling it back, normally when you start losing in the \" platteland \" you end up losing badly.

Good luck to the Lions....
 
Infidel Castro

Infidel Castro

New member
Watching the game through my beery eyes (actually I was only supping my first ale) I felt there were a couple of areas that need thinking about. Firstly, if the ploy of committing less men to a ruck isn\'t working, CHANGE THE BLOODY INSTRUCTIONS and get an extra body or two in there! There were too many turnovers as a result of the Lions\' policy. Also, whilst Jamie Roberts is great at running up the guts, it\'s hardly imaginative. Just look at Wales in the Six Nations. Tedious they were. I like Roberts, but the route one idea only goes so far. Learn to side-step, son! The ref didn\'t let enough scrums develop. The Royal lads, whilst an invitation team, were familiar with each other. This is because only two teams were used to make the invitational team. The names escape me, but we saw in the starting line-up 11 of one team and 4 of the other. That familiarity, along with the Lions\' apparent lack of cohesion and diligence, led us very close to a surprise.

Can I just say, Byrne\'s try was class.

here\'s to the Golden Lions game on Weds! :drunk:

Actually, I\'ll be in work :(
 
Infidel Castro

Infidel Castro

New member
I think I\'m the only one who cares :(

Another win today, but this is all pointless stuff. Without the international quality players taking the pitch in the build-up to the Tests, the whole escapade is becoming devalued :(
 
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