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Even Harlequins were kept in the dark over Smith's Lions call
The weekend call-up of Marcus Smith by the Lions in South Africa was such a surprise that the first Harlequins CEO Laurie Dalrymple knew their player was wanted by Warren Gatland was when he heard it mentioned on live TV during the second half of last Saturday’s England summer series match versus Canada at Twickenham.
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It was known by the London club that Smith was on a standby list of players who potentially could be called up by the Lions, but they were kept in the dark that this call-up was actually happening, something that didn’t allow them the opportunity to better publicise and promote the breaking news that their star player was now a 2021 Lions tourist.
The 22-year-old was at the heart of the incredible end-of-season run by Harlequins to the Gallagher Premiership title, Smith unleashing an array of attacking armoury in the playoff wins over Exeter and Bristol before going on to win his first two England Test caps with selection by Eddie Jones as their No10 for the wins over the USA and Canada.
That second England victory was accompanied by the extraordinary sight of Smith being told to go into the Twickenham tunnel after being substituted to be told that he had been call-up by the Lions to cover for the injured Finn Russell and would be flying out to South Africa, news that had broken only minutes earlier when the Lions tweeted their latest squad news just prior to their rematch versus the Sharks.
“No,” said Dalrymple when asked if he had been aware in advance that Smith was joining the Lions. “I was aware that clearly there is a waiting list, a separate squad that knows they are potentially going to get called up so, of course, we are aware of that. But yeah, it was a slight surprise as to the timing I have got to be honest. I was watching TV with everyone else when I found out.
Emotional reaction after he learned he will be going to South Africa for the Lions and not heading to Wembley as planned to watch the England footballers in the Euro 2020 final #LionsRugby #ENGvCANhttps://t.co/r1oh60I7VM
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) July 10, 2021
“He was in the England camp at that point, it falls under their management. They spoke with the RFU on Friday on their call. It became their call, not so much Harlequins. We are just super proud of what he has achieved. He has had the most amazing (year), he is such a strong competitor, he is such an amazing guy to have in the group and it is interesting, in the week leading up to the final and the semi-final sometimes the reassurance you get just from talking to him alone you just think right we are going to be alright because he is just so unswervingly determined to succeed so such an admirable quality.
“Not in any way taking away anything of what he has achieved in the last six months at all, having a few more hours to be prepared and amplify our appreciation and feeling of success on his behalf would have been nice but yeah, he goes with a huge amount of our support and we wish him all the best.
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“Having seen the line-up of the South Africa A team on Wednesday, I am not sure I would want him going out straight away as soon as he lands. But he will get an opportunity, of that I am certain, and knowing Marcus he will give it his absolute all and he will do extremely well.”
Harlequins CEO Laurie Dalrymple has been speaking about winning the Premiership in June with the team Paul Gustard had worked with for two-and-a-half years until last January https://t.co/mjrEsek4tv
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) July 13, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 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
4 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 Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 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!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 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.
30 Go to comments