'If it has to go ahead in the UK then it is still 15 green against 15 red and it will still be very special'
World Cup winner Lood de Jager insists switching the British and Irish Lions tour from South Africa to the UK this summer would create a unique opportunity for the rugby world to see “ 15 green against 15 red” and make his boyhood dream come true.
While de Jager accepts it would be a bitter disappointment for his family and South African fans to be robbed by the COVID-19 pandemic of seeing the Lions series “live”, ensuring the first Springbok series against the Lions for 12 years takes place is vital. “ It is going to be very unique and I don’t think there will ever be a Lions series played in the UK again,” said de Jager.
Having battled back from a third shoulder reconstruction, de Jager is focused on powering Sale’s bid for the Gallagher Premiership and proving that he is ready to pull on the Springbok jersey again. The World Cup champions have not played a test match since beating England in Yokohama to lift the cup on November 2, 2019 and while this will have an impact on the Springboks preparations for the three test Lions series, de Jager is adamant the squad will be ready.
He said: “Wherever they want to do it then it would be special to be part of the series if I am lucky enough to be picked. There is a lot of speculation about playing the Lions here in the UK or even in Australia and I am just waiting to find out because playing against the Lions is something I have dreamt about since I was a little boy. I remember the Lions tour in 2009 when I was still in school and it was so important to everyone in South Africa. That is why they don’t want to do the tour without fans because that is what makes it so special.
“I watched all the games on TV in 2009 with my Dad and because the tours only happen every 12 years you are so lucky to play in a test series against them. It is rarer than a World Cup and you could be a guy who plays in two Cups and never get the chance to take on the Lions so it is really special. If I can be part of Lions series then that is something amazing and I would cherish that forever.
“To miss this tour then players will never get a chance again and that is why it’s important. It doesn’t matter where that is, although it would be amazing to have it home with our families there and the boost it would give to the people and the economy. That is why it would be sad if it couldn’t go ahead in South Africa and that would be the biggest disappointment. But you can only control what you can control and if it has to go ahead in the UK then it is still 15 green against 15 red and it will still be very special.
“It has been strange not to be with the guys and we were a very tight group at the World Cup with some special memories together in that environment. It has been 15 months since we were in camp but being in Sale we are fortunate have a number of South Africans because there are some guys who are alone at their clubs during this pandemic. Obviously, it would be great to get together again with the Boks and see some old friends and some of them I haven’t seen since the World Cup trophy tour in South Africa.”
De Jager’s lockdown and rehabilitation time has been filled not only by work to get himself fit, but also time spent with his young family with two children under three years old. With what director of rugby Alex Sanderson calls de Jager’s new “metal shoulders” he is able to pick up his children as well has undertake the specialist weight training that has been devised to ensure the damaged areas remain strong. Having played the second half of the defeat at Harlequins, de Jager is in action again when champions Exeter visit the AJ Bell Stadium.
He added: “It is good to be back and to finally be out on the field. We didn’t play particularly well against Quins but looking at the bigger picture it was great for me to be out there an I really enjoyed it. It takes a while to get used to the contact again and it is hard not to have high expectations and you just have to trust the process and that you are not going to be at your best in those first couple of games and it has been frustrating for me coming back from injuries to always have that expectation that you want to paly at a certain level and with the rustiness it doesn’t happen. That can be hard and I told myself to just go out there and enjoy it this time and while I still want to play really well I want to enjoy myself.
England reckon they have got the repetitive Wales game plan under Biggar and co well sussed#SixNations #WALvENG
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 26, 2021
“When you are out of the game it does give you a bit of perspective about how much you miss it.
“I do a lot of shoulder rehab stuff strengthening the shoulder and the scapular and rotator muscles to make sure they are strong and firing. I do two or three gym sessions a week and one will be upper body then lower body and the third is just shoulder rehab to make sure everything is nice and loose. I do a little bit of extra stuff on the shoulders and the guys at Sale have be unbelievable.
“It is good to have those guys around you when you are low after the injury and they pick you up and I am very thankful to have worked with people like that. I now walk into the changing room and there is someone taller than me ( JP du Preez) and that is a first for me. I am tall but he takes it to a new level and it means we have really good line-out options now and it has been working well in the last couple of weeks and before that it wasn’t that great.
“We now face Exeter and it will be a massive set-piece battle at scrum and maul and we all know how dangerous they are with the pick and go in your 22. The physical battle is going to be the biggest part of the game and hopefully, we can front up. We have a good idea of what they are going to bring and if we can exert ourselves then we can bounce back with a good result.”
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 …
27 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!😭😭😭 !!!
27 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
27 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.
27 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.
27 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