6 more Lions players - including Farrell - make Premiership return
Six more of Warren Gatland’s Lions tour picks, including England skipper Owen Farrell, have been chosen by their Premiership clubs this weekend for an earlier than initially anticipated return to action. England players who were away with the Lions were all entitled to have a five-week holiday break following the August 7 last match of the tour in Cape Town and a four-week pre-season before becoming eligible to play again. They were also to have a separate week’s rest prior to the autumn internationals.
If that nine-week stipulation was applied across the board, players would have been off-limits in the Premiership until the weekend of October 16. However, a variety of negotiations have taken place between all the various stakeholders and the length of the break is now being applied on a player-by-player basis.
Bristol and Bath announced on Thursday that Kyle Sinckler and Anthony Watson (as a sub) would both be involved in this Friday night’s derby match at Ashton Gate and it has now emerged that six more Lions will now also feature in this weekend’s Premiership round three.
Newly promoted Saracens have a Saturday afternoon assignment at Leicester and they have included Farrell, who played twice off the Lions Test bench in South Africa, and hooker Jamie George at hooker. Farrell’s inclusion will create much intrigue as the England skipper will go head-to-head at out-half against his national team colleague George Ford.
Elsewhere, Northampton have included both Courtney Lawes and Dan Biggar for their home game with London Irish. Lawes will start from the bench but Wales out-half Biggar will wear the Saints No10 shirt. The regulations surrounding non-England Lions players who play for Premiership clubs were different from the England Lions as they were only entitled to just the five-week holiday.
"That is really a good way to approach it"
– Saracens boss Mark McCall has been talking about when exactly his five-strong Lions contingent might return to action in the Premiership#Lions #PremRugby #Saracens #LEIvSARhttps://t.co/8BLEWQwqki
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 29, 2021
That would theoretically have freed Northampton to play Biggar in round one of the league season but they held off until this weekend’s round three, as did Exeter who have chosen Scotland skipper Stuart Hogg at full-back for their trip on Sunday to Sale. Gloucester, meanwhile, have included Scottish Lion Chris Harris on their bench versus Worcester. Of the eight players back in action this weekend just two – Biggar and Lawes – featured in the series-deciding third Lions Test.
Of Hogg, Exeter boss Rob Baxter said on Thursday: “He looks real motivated, looks really sharp in training this week,” said the Chiefs boss at his weekly media briefing. “I spoke to him at the start of the week and said, ‘Right Hoggy, how are you feeling, are you ready to go?’ ‘Yeah, ready to go. Feel really good.’”
"All that Stuart needs to know from me…"
– The Scotland captain twice started for the Lions versus the Springboks but he went to South Africa having been benched by Exeter for their Premiership final and semi-final #Lions #Exeter #SALvEXE https://t.co/Ma9fLYBSe5
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 30, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
Irish Rugby CEO be texting Andy Farrell “Andy, i found our next Kiwi Irishman”
4 Go to commentsI certainly don’t miss drinking beers at 8am in the morning watching rugby games being played in NZ.
1 Go to commentsThis looks like a damage limitation exercise for Wales, keeping back some of their more effective players for the last 20/25 minutes to try and counter England’s fresh legs so the Red Roses don’t rack up a big score.
1 Go to commentsVery unlikely the Bulls will beat Leinster in Dublin. It would be different in Pretoria.
1 Go to commentsI think it is a dangerous path to go down to ban a player for the same period that a player they injured takes to recover. Players would be afraid to tackle anyone. I once tackled my best friend at school in a practice match and sprained his ankle. I paid for it by having to play fly-half instead of full-back for the rest of that season’s fixtures.
5 Go to commentsJust such a genuine good bloke…and probably the best all round player in his generation. Good guys do come first sometimes and he handled the W.Cup loss with great attitude.
2 Go to commentsWord in France is that he’s on the radar of a few Top14 clubs.
4 Go to commentsGet blocking Travis, this guy has styles and he’s gonna make a swift impact…!
1 Go to commentsWhat remorse? She claimed that her dangerous tackle wasn’t worthy of a red! She should be compensating the injured player for loss of earnings at the minimum. Her ban should include the recovery time of the injured player as well as the paltry 3 match ban.
5 Go to commentsArdie is a legend. Finished and klaar. Two things: “Yeah, yeah, I have had a few conversations with Razor just around feedback on my game and what I am doing well, what I need to improve on or work-ons. It’s kind of been minimal, mate, but it’s all that I need over here in terms of how to be better, how to get better and what I am doing well.” I hope he’s downplaying it - and that it’s not that “minimal”. The amount of communication and behind the scenes preparation the Bok coaches put into players - Rassie and co would be all over Ardie and being clear on what is expected of him. This stands out for me as something teams should really be looking at in terms of the boks success from a coaching point of view. And was surprised by the comment - “minimal”. In terms of the “debate” around Ireland and South Africa. Nice one Ardie. Indeed. There’s no debate.
2 Go to commentsThere’s a bit of depth there but realistically Australian players have a long way to go to now catch up. The game is moving on fast and Australia are falling behind. Australian sides still don’t priories the breakdown like they should, it’s a non-negotiable if you want to compete on the international stage. That goes for forwards and backs. The Australian team could have a back row that could make a difference but the problem is they don’t have a tight five that can do the business. Tupou is limited in defence, overweight and unfit and the locks are a long way from international standard. Frost is soft and Salakai-Loto is too small so that means they need a Valentini at 8 who has to do the hard graft so limits the effectiveness of the backrow. Schmidt really needs to get a hard working, tough tight 5 if he wants to get this team firing.
3 Go to commentsSorry Morgan you must have been the “go to for a quote” ex player this week. Its rnd 6 and there is plenty of time to cement a starting 15 and finishing 8 so I have no such concerns.
2 Go to commentsGreat read. I wish you had done this article on the ROAR.
2 Go to commentsThe current AB coaching team is basically the Crusaders so it smacks of wanting their familiar leaders around. This is not a good look for the future of the ABs or the younger players in Super working their way up the player ladder. Razor is touted as innovative, forward looking but his early moves look like insecurity and insular, provincial thinking. He is the AB's coach not the Golden Oldies.
10 Go to commentsSimple reason for wanting him back. Robertson wants him as captain. Otherwise he wouldn’t be bothering chasing him. Not enough reason to come back just to mentor.
10 Go to commentsI had not considered this topic like this at all, brilliant read. I had been looking at his record at the Waratahs and thought it odd the Crusaders appointed him, then couple that with all that experience and talent departing and boom. They’ve got some great talent developing though, and in all honesty I don’t think anyone would be over confident taking them on in a playoff match, no matter how poor the first half of their season was. I think they can pull a game out of their ass when it counts.
2 Go to commentsNot a bad list but not Porecki and not Donaldson. Not because they are Tahs, or Ex Tahs, they are just not good enough. Edmed should be ahead. Far more potential. Wilson should be 8 and Valentini 6. Wilson needs to be told by his father and his coach, stop bloody running in to brick wall defence. You’re not playing under the genius Thorn any more. He’s a fantastic angle runner. The young new 8 from the Brumbies looks really good too. The Lonegrans are just too small for international rugby as is Paisami, as is Hamish Stewart at 12. Both great at Super Rugby level. Stewart could have been a great 10 if not for Brad Thorn. Uru should be there and so should Tupou. Tupou just needs good Australian coaching which he hasn’t been getting. I don’t think Schmidt will excite him.
3 Go to commentsIf he wants to come back then he should. He will be a major asset to the younger locks and could easily be played as an impact player off the bench coming on in the last 30. He is fit, strong and capable and has all the experience to make up for any loss in physical prowess. He could also be brought back with a view to coaching within the structures one day. Duane Vermeulen played until he was 37 or 38. He is now a roaming coach within the South African coaching structures. He was valuable in the last world cup and has been a major influence on Jasper Wiese and other young players which has helped and accelerated their development and growth. Whitelock could do the exact same thing for NZ
10 Go to commentsBrett Excellent words… finally someone (other than DC) has noted that Hanigan is very hard and very good at doing what Backrow should do… his performance via the Drua sauna was quite daunting for those on the other side… very high tackle count… carries with good end result… constant threat to make a good 20-25 meters with those long legs… providing his mass effectively to crunching the Drua pack… Finally he is returning to quality form… way to much injury time over the last 2 years… smart-strong-competent in his skills… caught every lineout throw aimed at him and delivered clean pass to whoever was down below… and he worked hard for the whole 80 minutes… Ned has to be in the top 5 for backrow honors… He knows what is required as he has been there before…
20 Go to commentsI think Sam Whitelock should not touch a return with a bargepole. He went out on a high, playing in the RWC Final. He would be coming back into a team that will be weaker than last years, and might even be struggling to win games, especially against the Boks. Stay in France, enjoy another year with Pau, playing alongside his brother.
10 Go to comments