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If the chaos of the run-up to the Sharks game hadn’t happened, I would have said there were a few areas of the game that might have been a slight concern, but then we always look back at previous tours with rose-tinted specs, don’t we?
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If we look back to the 2003 World Cup, the consensus is probably that England played amazingly all the way through but at times we’d actually been pretty average. People paper over that because we ended up winning it. Will England football fans remember the poor performance against Scotland if they beat Italy on Sunday? I doubt it.
My point is, if the Lions coasted through the tour with makeweight opposition, and stormed into the Tests, without missing a beat, it would remind me of the All Blacks failures at World Cups until 2011. If it’s too easy, you’ve got no preparation for finding solutions when the going gets tough.
There was actually plenty from that Sharks game where the coaches could say, ‘we’re nowhere near the finished article’. With another run out against the Sharks this weekend, Gatland needs to work out his starting combinations and bench options sharpish.
Off-field chaos galvanises a squad
One of the factors Warren Gatland was most pleased about post-game was the squad’s resilience. They could have easily rolled out the caveats about the turmoil of training in certain combinations and that being thrown out of the door hours before kick-off, but they didn’t and I think that attitude might actually help them.
Gats and the support staff come into their own in fostering that resolve. Before flying the squad will have known things were not going to run smoothly. When I was with England, we worked with the Special Boat Service (SBS) and one of their mottos was, ‘the best battle plan in the world never survives the first contact with the enemy. It’s who adapts quickest that survives’. It resonates, doesn’t it? You’ll never go through a World Cup or a Lions campaign without something going pear-shaped.
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The Springboks have just as many hurdles, so this is not a case of one side being softened up more than the other. Both sides will be continually asked about permutations of the tour but their stock answer will be, ‘that’s outside our control’. I think the coaching staff will actually be playing on it. In 2003 for the Grand Slam game in Ireland, Clive Woodward said, ‘if you don’t win this, you won’t win the World Cup. He said, ‘the Irish are the loveliest people in the world but they will do everything to upset you during the week.’ It’s what led to Johnno having a stand-off on the red carpet because we had our armour plates on for any eventuality. The pressure was internal and the Lions will feed off the adversity.
Mako not quite hitting the heights
One of the big areas that got exposed last night was the scrum, which is going to be massive at the Test Series. Why? Because the South African’s think they have a huge advantage there. They have Steven Kitshoff and Frans Malherbe who are very powerful scrummagers and Mako Vunipola and Zander Fagerson didn’t really click if you look at some of the penalties they gave away.
Right now, I don’t think Mako is the same player he was four years ago. At scrum-time, he likes to get into a competitive, more attacking position with his feet further back which is higher risk but higher reward. You get some props who hunker down into a more immovable position with feet under their hips but they don’t attack the opposition as much, but for that to happen you can’t just attack as an individual. For Mako to be successful it relies on what’s happening at the other side of the scrum and it wasn’t happening against the Sharks. Saying that, Gatland has talked about players having credit in the bank and this is Mako’s third tour. He can fall back on his performances for England and Saracens, especially in European Cup finals. At the top of his game he offers things not many props can but he knows you’ve got to get your bread and butter right. Mako will need a really strong scrummaging performance next time out.
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Is Farrell a better bet at 10 than 12?
I thought Owen Farrell looked more comfortable in the 10 shirt yesterday – even though he didn’t have a number! It was interesting to hear pre-game that Ronan O’Gara that he thought he was a world-class 10 but not a world-class 12 and in-game see Brian O’Driscoll saying you have to get Farrell on the pitch somewhere. Then you have fans saying he should be nowhere near the Lions. The England captain certainly divides opinion like no other!
One thing we do know is he should not be considered as a crash-ball 12. Geech (Sir Ian McGeechan) said he was a Test Match Animal but where do you play him? I thought his kick-through for van der Merwe’s try was smart. He shaped to pass but at the last moment saw the last man had shut the gate too early leaving acres of space in behind, but he didn’t break stride, dropped it onto his foot and made it easy for Duhan.
I’ve always liked the fact he doesn’t get perturbed when he makes errors or things go wrong such as missing a couple of kicks. With some kickers, if they miss a few you start to worry when they step up to the tee, whereas with Owen, he just says ‘give me the ball’. He is now fifth in the all-time list of points scorers with 1050 points, so he doesn’t get affected by knock-backs which will be crucial in the Test Series.
In 2017, even though he went out to New Zealand competing with Johnny Sexton for a Lions shirt, the two of them really bonded. They put rivalries aside and worked well. He’ll be doing the same with Dan Biggar and Finn Russell. Against the Sigma Lions there was a moment when Finn put a little pump-pass to hold the defender and almost opened the gap up but Owen didn’t read it and overran it. That understanding will come with familiarity sitting in each other’s pockets in training.
They ain't coming home!!#LionsRugby #CastleLionsSeries #LionsSA2021
https://t.co/RM6mzLfqra— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) July 8, 2021
Don’t underestimate his ability to play a part in the Tests.
Josh Adams is living his best life
For me, Josh Adams is nailed on. He has everything that Gats wants; he’s tough, abrasive, aggressive in defence and that one-handed pick up off the Louis Rees-Zammit offload for his first try was sublime and showed his confidence. I also loved how he set-up Rees-Zammit for the try down the right-hand side because he beat a couple of men, kept his balance and offloaded with perfect timing. The tries are just a nice bonus compared to the basics he does so well.
On the other flank, Duhan took his tries well but there were a few times defensively that I thought he got caught out positionally and for that reason I’m not sold that he’ll be a certain starter. We all love talking about the attacking abilities of our wings but we know how Faf de Klerk plays for Sale, so you know you’re going to get hammered with high-balls and you need a back-three who can cope with that. That’s what Liam Williams and Anthony Watson can give you not just aerially but with their defensive management of the backfield. Watson has had his injury worries since but he’s a more rounded player than the last tour and shone for England during the Six Nations. Their lack of game time puts the pressure on but it will drive standards. Although Hogg has started well, the Watson, Williams and Adams back three is still possible for the first Test.
Tom Curry rises to the challenge
For a part of the match, I almost player-cammed Curry and his workrate took my breath away. There was one passage where he was the first defender opposite their 10, Curwin Bosch, on the left-hand touchline. He flew forward with line speed to put pressure on him, but the ball was passed at the last moment and he literally followed the ball like a heat-seeker the full width of the pitch at full pelt and thought about contesting but decided to hold off and attack the ball at the next phase to win a turnover. That was after 63 minutes! I couldn’t run that fast out of the tunnel before kick-off. Curry is just the sort of physical beast to take on the Springbok backrow. After Josh Navidi played brilliantly and Hamish Watson started off like a train, I don’t know how Gats is going to pick that back row.
The future of the 2021 Lions tour
When they were looking at options the South African Rugby Union clearly said, ‘we’ve got a contract in place, we can make it happen’ and with the move to Cape Town, I think everyone associated with the tour will try and get the tour over the line. I’ve seen some fans saying, what about the UK, which had 60,000 for the Euros at Wembley? But it’s not as straightforward as that. Our government has to give the green light, then you have to think about getting the logistics of getting people to Twickenham, traffic management, speaking to the local councils for permission, and this in a matter of days. The choice is simple, do it this year or wait until 2025 in Australia.
Finally, a lot of people are suggesting the Tour should have been cancelled a long time ago. That would have meant that the Lions wouldn’t have had a series against the Springboks for 24 years. Players of British & Irish Lions quality would have missed out on the ultimate honour. I don’t see how we are better off with the tour not happening at all, rather than giving it a go and at least trying to complete it. We know the traditional Lions ethos is built on amateur values but we need to be honest and accept the Lions, like any other sporting brand, is a business. Lots of traditionalists say, ‘oh, it’s all about the money’, but it’s not greed, no one is making a profit. As a game, we’re losing money hand over fist; it’s about trying to survive. Those people who are saying, ‘bin it off, move it to next year’, are the same people who are saying how badly the unions are treating player welfare but you can’t go from a Lions tour into a World Cup the next summer. Trust me, as someone who has been through a pre-World Cup training camp, there is no way you can go from an eight-week Lions tour, into an attritional domestic season and then straight into a pre-World Cup block. It would be ridiculous.
Comments on RugbyPass
After their 5/0 start, I had the Crusaders to finish Top 4 only…they lost the plot in Perth but will reload and back themselves vs 4th placed Rebels…
3 Go to commentsBoth nations missed a great opportunity to book a game that would have had a lot of interest from around the world. I understand these games can’t be organised in 5 minutes but they should have found a way to make it happen. I don’t think Wales are ducking anyone but it’s a bad look haha.
3 Go to commentsIt will be fascinating to see the effect that Jo Yapp has. If they can compete with Canada and give BFs a run for their money that will be progress
1 Go to commentsFollowing his dream and putting in the work. Go well young fella!
3 Go to commentsPerhaps filling Twickenham is one of Mitchell’s KPIs. I doubt whether both September matches will be at Twickenham on consecutive weekends. I would take the BF one to a large provincial stadium so as not to give them the advantage and experience of playing at Twickenham before a large crowd prior to the RWC.
2 Go to commentsvery unfortunate for Kitshoff, but big opportunity potentially for Nché to prove he is genuinely the best loosehead in the world, rather than just a specialist finisher. Presuming that if Kitshoff is out, it will also give Steenekamp a chance to come into the 23? Or are others likely to be ahead of him?
1 Go to commentsA long held question in popular culture asks if art imitates life or does the latter influence the former? Over this 6 nations I can ask the same question of the media influencing the thoughts of its audience or vice versa. Nobody wants to see cricket scores in rugby, as a spectacle it is not sustainable. With so many articles about England’s procession and lack of competition it feeds the epicaricacy of many looking for an opportunity to pounce. England are not the first team to dominate nor does it happen only in rugby, think Federer, Nadal, Red Bull or Mercedes, Manchester Utd, Australia in tests and World Cups. Instead of celebrating the achievements why find reasons to falsify it pointing towards larger playing pool, professional for a longer period or mitigate with the lack of growth in other nations. Can we not enjoy it while it is here and know that it won’t last for ever, others coveting what England have will soon take the crown, ask the aforementioned?
6 Go to commentsShame he won’t turn out for the Netherlands now they’re improving. U20s are Euro champs and in the U20 Trophy this year. The senior sides gets better every year too.
3 Go to commentsWill rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
6 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
6 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
3 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
29 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
2 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
3 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
3 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
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