South Effricans Feeling Arrogant as Usual

[cully86]

Keohane getting his shots in on POC and the Irish early. I'm sure he will have much more on his website in time; I suppose it is a full time job, feeding the yokel wildlife who post on Keo that is.

http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/s ... BD4A984120
Expect O’Connell and his divided tourists to fail


IRELAND’s Paul O’Connell came to SA with a big reputation in 2004. As did his team. They were the best of the home unions and they talked one heck of a game. O’Connell, according to the northern hemisphere’s print cheerleaders, was the best lock in the world.

Then came the first Test in Bloemfontein and the small matter of Bakkies Botha. The Irish got smashed and O’Connell, ever since, has always been more of a pretender than a prince. He may be an icon at Munster and he may inspire in an Irish jumper when playing in Dublin. But away from home he has never been dominant and nothing will change when he again confronts the likes of Botha and Victor Matfield.

The South African duo has always publicly given O’Connell the necessary praise, but privately they know they’ve got his number.

O’Connell is expected to be named captain of the British and Irish Lions tomorrow afternoon, which should tell you all you need to know about the outcome of the three-Test series.

O’Connell’s biggest challenge, though, won’t be Botha and Matfield. It will be convincing Welsh players likely to make the Test XV that he is better than the Welsh locks not making the team.

The intrigue of any Lions tour is how quickly, if at all, the four home unions become a unified entity. In the amateur era the dominant home union would make up the bulk of the Lions first-choice XV, but Graham Henry and Clive Woodward, as professional coaches of the Lions in Australia and in New Zealand, tried to judge players on their ability alone and mould a team, regardless of familiarity and nationality. It was a disaster.

Veteran Lions coach Ian McGeechan won’t be as naïve, but McGeechan also knows it is not as simple as looking to a dominant home nation and picking the core of that side because in the recent Six Nations there wasn’t such a thing as one side being obviously better than the other. Ireland won the competition but were a kick away from being beaten by Wales.

McGeechan’s best side is expected to come primarily from Irish and Welsh players, and finding the right balance could prove more daunting than any opposition game plan.

Firstly, McGeechan’s assistant coaches are the Welsh coaching trio of Warren Gatland, Shaun Edwards and Rob Howley. Gatland, a Kiwi, also coached Ireland in the late 1990s, so you would think it would be an ideal situation. But it isn’t because Gatland, in the build-up to the Six Nations decider between Wales and Ireland, said Ireland did not have what it takes in big pressure moments. He also said the Welsh players hated the Irish more than any other and he had a few more unflattering things to say of the Irish, based on his own experience in Dublin. He later defended his comments as gamesmanship, but the Irish boys aren’t that gullible.

Now Gatland, with his Lions cap on, must convince everyone O’Connell and the other Irish players have what it takes to win in SA. Gatland must also trust an Irish captain to win those big pressure moments and an Irish captain must trust a Welsh coach he knows doesn’t believe he has the bottle.

As you can see, it is complicated even before it begins, as this is a squad made up of different ideas, different accents and different cultures. What bonds these players is rugby, but the bond of rugby is never as strong as the tribal bond of nationality.

McGeechan already has annoyed Irish followers by referring to the touring squad as being from the British Isles. This is supposedly a tour of the British and Irish Lions, and if form were the rider in selection then a more accurate description of the squad would be the Irish and British Lions.

Any Lions tour is as much a political gathering as it is a sporting get-together. Politically, this is a squad divided by nationality and this division will be exacerbated by the choice of a captain who is not a supreme being.

O’Connell may be revered in Munster, but in this country’s he is just another big name who failed. He knows it. So does Gatland. And both know the other knows it. Expect a similar failure again from O’Connell and his divided tourists.

n Keohane is chief operating officer of Highbury Safika Media and the South African Breweries Sports Journalist of the Year.

[leinsterlank]

An interesting article which highlighted a few key issues. The whole gatland issue for the isrish pkayers is a long standing issue from when he coached although most of that team are gone. He has soured a few irish hearts over time...
Secondly I feel he is justified in saying that POC as a lot to prove since the last lions tour, I dont agree with his comments about POC but I can see his point of view. Finally, I think SA have every reason to be arrogant as I firmly believe they are the number one side in the world at the moment and have an experienced and colossal second row to match POC and co. If I was SA i'd be quite happy right now and the task ahead is huge for the lions.

[ronk]

POC is a hard working player who's worked on a lot of aspects of his game since 2004. That was a long time ago now in real terms. There's a world of a difference between a talented young player and an experienced leader. I know Botha is more experienced too but it's not like Ireland haven't played South Africa since 2004 and O'Connell hasn't measured himself against the guys Botha plays against.

It'll be an interesting battle but it's not the foregone conclusion the South Africans are expecting.