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Blunt Gatland response to criticism of Lions from his ex-WRU boss
Warren Gatland has fobbed off criticism of the Lions’ rematch this Saturday versus the Sharks from Gareth Davies, the ex-Wales Rugby Union chairman who branded the tour of South Africa a farce after it emerged that the tourists would play the same opposition just four days after beating them 54-7 in Johannesburg on Wednesday.
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Not since 1910, when Border were taken on twice in four days at East London and King William’s Town, have the Lions had consecutive matches against the same non-test opponent and Davies, who would have been the WRU figurehead during the mid to latter part of Gatland’s lengthy stint as Wales boss, told S4C: “Playing the same team makes a farce of things really.
“They will be playing the Sharks second team because ten of them are in the Springboks squad anyway. Had this been an international tour, it’s likely the tour would have been called off. Personally, I don’t think they should play over the weekend, they should take a week off. And if anything, not play another game before the Tests because the Test series is what is important… I would go towards that route.”
Asked to respond to Davies’s Lions farce claim, Gatland said on Friday evening from South Africa. “Well, he is entitled to his opinion.” The Lions boss then went on to outline why playing the Sharks – who have made eleven changes to their XV – for the second time in 70 hours was a good thing for his team which has 13 changes from the midweek XV.
“It keeps the players ticking over and gives them an opportunity to go out and impress, so really thankful to the Sharks for being prepared to front up and it’s a big challenge for them. It’s great for us to hopefully continue with the momentum. There are still lots of things for us to work on.
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Warren Gatland has hinted Test venue changes are on the cards… and the Lions could also be playing a different opponent next Wednesday #LionsRugby #CastleLionsSeries #LionsSA2021https://t.co/2F38wSxnQU
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) July 9, 2021
“We are doing some nice things and things we are improving in certain areas and we have looked at some of the stats and that shows that and we have looked at some of the areas that we have been concentrating on but we are not the finished article. We have got a few games to go before we really start thinking about the Test side. I am very pleased and just want to say thanks to the Sharks for giving us this fixture and backing up as well.
“It is going to be a really good test for us. Despite the scoreline, they did put us under pressure at times and so we will be looking to do a few things a little bit differently. It gives us another opportunity to do that. They will improve from their hit-out against us. Teams tend to improve and be a lot tougher on the second occasion.
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“We have made changes as well. We are really pleased with the way we have trained and we also need to think about the challenges that we are facing in terms of the strength in depth of the opposition and being a little bit adaptable so we will play a bit differently in terms of the way we approach the game. We need to be able to do that as we want to be strong and competitive in certain areas when we come up against the Springboks.”
'If we’re being honest, the reaction to this tour from people within the game, let alone the wider public, has been tepid at best' @AndyGoode10 ??? believes it's time to 'bring it home' #LionsRugby #SHAvBILhttps://t.co/ugQowaKLN1
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) July 9, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
26 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
26 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
26 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
26 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
26 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
11 Go to comments