2021 Lions

[JB1973]

How about we tour with Italy and France, the EU lions

The British Brexiteers vs the EU Lions (or as the press would call you jonny Foreigners ) would go down a storm in vast swathes of the UK especially Engerrrland

Home games to be played at Twickers a union jack kit would be compulsory running out to land of hope and glory , whilst the scoreboard flashed up images of The Queen, Churchill, Thatcher and Farage on a continuous loop

[CiaranIrl]

How about we tour with Italy and France, the EU lions

The British Brexiteers vs the EU Lions (or as the press would call you jonny Foreigners ) would go down a storm in vast swathes of the UK especially Engerrrland

Home games to be played at Twickers a union jack kit would be compulsory running out to land of hope and glory , whilst the scoreboard flashed up images of The Queen, Churchill, Thatcher and Farage on a continuous loop

I think I'd still hate this South African team more.

[riocard911]

How about we tour with Italy and France, the EU lions

The British Brexiteers vs the EU Lions (or as the press would call you jonny Foreigners ) would go down a storm in vast swathes of the UK especially Engerrrland

Home games to be played at Twickers a union jack kit would be compulsory running out to land of hope and glory , whilst the scoreboard flashed up images of The Queen, Churchill, Thatcher and Farage on a continuous loop

I think I'd still hate this South African team more.

Dunno about the team, but as far as Rassie is concerned, I had a lot of respect for him, but that's all gone now. If I wanted to watch coaches acting the eejit on the sidelines, drawing the media attention to them and away what's happening on the pitch, I'd watch soccer thanks (puke!). If World Rugby don't stamp these type of antics out, it's only gonna get worse. And if ever hear "yeah, but he takes/took the pressure of his team" again - I WILL LOSE THE BIT I HAD!!!!!!!!!

[ronk]

Rassie showed enough when he unnecessarily swore blind that he wasn't looking to leave after he had already handed in his notice to Munster.

Refs are technically correct ex- pros , the old headmaster refs knew how to sort this nonsense out. No dissent accepted, 10 yards, 10 yards, 10 yards.

There's a standard formula that NEVER works. Never: 1st handbags talk to both sides and look angry. Players know they've got a free shot and the ref will only care about retaliation. The ref wasn't close to carding Curry for starting that brawl after Kolbe-Murray. Nor was the hooker sent off for an off the ball elbow in front of the ref on Biggar.

And in relation to the video rant: you want something to complain about, I'll give you something to complain about. But refs need to signaled that they'll be backed up if the go down that road.

[domhnallj]

Wonder if the saffas will take to the pitch on Saturday sporting ‘justice for rassie’ tags?

Frankly starting to wonder if we will have to put up with this type of shite in the pro16 (or whatever it is now).

[Flash Gordon]

Wonder if the saffas will take to the pitch on Saturday sporting ‘justice for rassie’ tags?

Frankly starting to wonder if we will have to put up with this type of shite in the pro16 (or whatever it is now).

Hopefully the authorities will deal with it. His way of behaving is fundamentally the opposite of what the game and it's ethics stand for, respect. An hour long rambling rant that even took in whether line out throws were straight or not plus the burner account are not in the spirit of the game. The water boy thing too. Frankly the guy's behaviour was disgraceful and I was pretty surprised given that I thought he conducted himself very well when he was at Munster, he was hard not to respect and like.

[dropkick]

Wonder if the saffas will take to the pitch on Saturday sporting ‘justice for rassie’ tags?

Frankly starting to wonder if we will have to put up with this type of shite in the pro16 (or whatever it is now).

Hopefully the authorities will deal with it. His way of behaving is fundamentally the opposite of what the game and it's ethics stand for, respect. An hour long rambling rant that even took in whether line out throws were straight or not plus the burner account are not in the spirit of the game. The water boy thing too. Frankly the guy's behaviour was disgraceful and I was pretty surprised given that I thought he conducted himself very well when he was at Munster, he was hard not to respect and like.

He was as respected and liked when leaving Munster. He fecked off and his lies were fairly obvious and looked bad. He took Neinabar and Aled Waters with him and for me the worst part is he solved SA's van Graan problem by offloading him to munster.


His bending of the rules are one thing. I mean everyone knows he's running the show and yet here he is as a water boy. And the other account thing was also a bit of naughty but he doesn't care. He will do whatever he can get away with. All his tactics are negative.

You can be sure the match length the other day was no coincidence either.


The video was a disgrace though. A new low. I watched 6 or 7 min and turned it off.


It highlights a problem with rugby that in close games a ref can easily decide the winner. He knows that, Gatland knows it too. Tight, scrappy games are impossible to ref fairly so part of what they do now it to apply pressure to a ref in the lead up to a game. It's getting worse every year although Gatland has always been clever about it too.

[neill_m]

British and Irish Lions: 15 Liam Williams; 14 Josh Adams, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Duhan van der Merwe; 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Ali Price; 1 Wyn Jones, 2 Ken Owens, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 4 Maro Itoje, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (c), 6 Courtney Lawes, 7 Tom Curry, 8 Jack Conan.

Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 Adam Beard, 20 Sam Simmonds, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Finn Russell, 23 Elliot Daly.

Springbok team: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Cobus Reinach; 1 Steven Kitshoff, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 3 Frans Malherbe, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 5 Lood de Jager, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 7 Franco Mostert, 8 Jasper Wiese.

Replacements: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Marco van Staden, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Herschel Jantjies, 22 Morné Steyn, 23 Damian Willemse

[riocard911]

Probably never going to happen, but I'd love to see WR just outright ban coaches commenting ref & TMO decisions outside the disciplinary structures. Instead of decent rugby spectacles were increasingly getting served up the equivalent of Ferguson vs Keegan, Mourinho vs Wenger, Skolsjahr vs Roy in the form of Eddie vs Gattie, Cheika vs Hansen, Gattie vs Rassie etc. etc. etc. I don't know about the rest of yiz, but for me these coach "beefs" and column inches, radio, tv and podcast hours spend analysing all the pre-match, post-match pschological warfare (sic) is a major turn off!!!!!

[Ruckedtobits]

Certainly can't see that team beat the selected 'Boks team. The front row haven't got enough to give a platform to allow the Lions any real difference in scrums and mauls, which is where the result will be determined.

The alterations across the backline will only be significant if the Lions get front-foot ball for at least 60% of the game. Can Adams and Williams develop counter-attacks by fielding the bombardment from the 'Bok half-backs? Hugely unlikely. Can Price & Biggar change the tempo of the match by 10-15%? Unlikely, unless their forwards can fundamentally change their tactics.

Reduce the line-outs to 3 & 4 man options; throw ball over the back on full line-outs; take channel one ball out of scrums through Conan; only kick ball with grubbers or flat diagonals. The most essential objective of the Lions' team should be to split-up the 'Boks pack across the pitch. If they stay together, they will steamroller the Lions' pack.

Has Gatland got the courage to try for a win playing rugby or will he stick by Warren-ball and watch his forwards being chewed up? If he tries to go down running, he has a chance. Unless he tries that, he will go down as a one-trick Coach.

[neill_m]

Sinckler cleared of any charges re biting.

[Dexter]

Sinckler cleared of any charges re biting.

The article I read said Sinckler flat out denied it and the committee couldn't find any evidence of it happening (video footage etc.)

Makes you wonder why he was cited!
Especially with all the other shenanigans.

[sunshiner1]

by riocard911

Probably never going to happen, but I'd love to see WR just outright ban coaches commenting ref & TMO decisions outside the disciplinary structures. Instead of decent rugby spectacles were increasingly getting served up the equivalent of Ferguson vs Keegan, Mourinho vs Wenger, Skolsjahr vs Roy in the form of Eddie vs Gattie, Cheika vs Hansen, Gattie vs Rassie etc. etc. etc. I don't know about the rest of yiz, but for me these coach "beefs" and column inches, radio, tv and podcast hours spend analysing all the pre-match, post-match pschological warfare (sic) is a major turn off!!!!!

+1

[hugonaut]

Sinckler cleared of any charges re biting.

The article I read said Sinckler flat out denied it and the committee couldn't find any evidence of it happening (video footage etc.)

Makes you wonder why he was cited!
Especially with all the other shenanigans.

I thought that the citing commissioner would have to have had compelling evidence showing Sinckler biting in order to cite him. It's a serious accusation from an official; that role has real weight in rugby.

"Mostert looks at his arm" as he gets up from a ruck is not a slam dunk case. I'm not a big Sinckler fan, but he has been badly served here.

[neill_m]

Sinckler cleared of any charges re biting.

The article I read said Sinckler flat out denied it and the committee couldn't find any evidence of it happening (video footage etc.)

Makes you wonder why he was cited!
Especially with all the other shenanigans.

I thought that the citing commissioner would have to have had compelling evidence showing Sinckler biting in order to cite him. It's a serious accusation from an official; that role has real weight in rugby.

"Mostert looks at his arm" as he gets up from a ruck is not a slam dunk case. I'm not a big Sinckler fan, but he has been badly served here.

Does the Citing Commissioner not have access to additional tv angles which we aren't allowed to see from host broadcaster? If so surely on the basis of those they made their judgement, which the panel didn't agree with. I hope they didn't make the recommendation on the basis of the general tv footage...

[Flash Gordon]

by riocard911

Probably never going to happen, but I'd love to see WR just outright ban coaches commenting ref & TMO decisions outside the disciplinary structures. Instead of decent rugby spectacles were increasingly getting served up the equivalent of Ferguson vs Keegan, Mourinho vs Wenger, Skolsjahr vs Roy in the form of Eddie vs Gattie, Cheika vs Hansen, Gattie vs Rassie etc. etc. etc. I don't know about the rest of yiz, but for me these coach "beefs" and column inches, radio, tv and podcast hours spend analysing all the pre-match, post-match pschological warfare (sic) is a major turn off!!!!!

+1

Totally agree. If they don't stop this, this is the direction we will go. Soccer deals with managers criticising refs and you can hardly say it has the same values regarding respect for the officials that rugby has. It's not like these guys don't have an opportunity to raise their concerns with officials freely. It's quite deliberate attempted intimidation.

[Dave Cahill]

If this stuff wasn't popular then there wouldn't be column inches, radio, tv and podcast hours spent analysing it all.

[JB1973]

If this stuff wasn't popular then there wouldn't be column inches, radio, tv and podcast hours spent analysing it all.

I wonder who it is popular with? I Literally don't know any serious rugby fan who enjoys these "mind games" or sledging via the media

It's like a cheap version of the wwe or ufc with fighters bad mouthing each other for me it does nothing to enhance our sport

Anyhow onto that lions team I prefer the back line this week not sure how VDM kept his spot though , Russell on the bench is an interesting call as is Simmons (we have no cover if curry goes down so finger crossed there) so personally I'd have picked Naividi as the bench back rower

It will be all on this week the boks will certainly miss dutoit and faf, hopefully we see more rugby and less tmo this week

I still feel the lions can do it but the boks must be faves anyhow won't be long until we find out!

[Dave Cahill]

If this stuff wasn't popular then there wouldn't be column inches, radio, tv and podcast hours spent analysing it all.

I wonder who it is popular with? I Literally don't know any serious rugby fan who enjoys these "mind games" or sledging via the media

People who read newspapers, listen to radio and watch television obvs! They aren't publishing it for the gas of it, they're doing it because they know there's a market for it. The man in the street truly is a c**t.

[riocard911]

If this stuff wasn't popular then there wouldn't be column inches, radio, tv and podcast hours spent analysing it all.

I wonder who it is popular with? I Literally don't know any serious rugby fan who enjoys these "mind games" or sledging via the media

People who read newspapers, listen to radio and watch television obvs! They aren't publishing it for the gas of it, they're doing it because they know there's a market for it. The man in the street truly is a c**t.

I dunno, Dave. Like the odd shot of Leo and the gang looking on at the RDS or Faz mór clenching a fist, when an Ireland strike move comes off, is enough for me. Do I need Rob Baxter in the middle of a Heino clash dialling in an answer from the lizard brain, about how Exeter got off to slow start - like I never ****in' would have guessed - while his mind is concentrating on the match, or do I want to see Ugo Mola blowing a gasket pitchside, while the game is simultaneously unfolding on the pitch? The answer to both is no. I imagine most rugby fans feel the same, but the media have their way of doing things, which they think is "edgy". Whether it actually gets more bums on seats, eyeballs in front of the screen etc. is doubtful to debatable, IMO.

And while we're at it - canned music during the breaks? ARGGHH!!!!! For me the Ireland tour to Australia 2018 was ruined by the stadium bods repeatedly playing John Farnham's abysmal power ballad "You're the voice" to get the Digger, Larrikin, Anzac whatever spirit going. Still get nightmares about over that. Whose brilliant idea is that? Does it sell more beer or something? Can the marketing guys prove its "commercial value" in real money terms? I reckon no. But all this stuff I'm ranting about at this stage detracts - for me - from the game I love. I can do without the "frills".