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In pictures: Warren Gatland's 2021 Lions squad assembles for administration day in London

(Photo by INPHO)

Warren Gatland’s 2021 Lions have got down to business in London, the squad assembling for an administrative day ahead of next month’s tour to South Africa which will commence with a Channel Islands camp in Jersey and the June 26 match versus Japan at Murrayfield before they fly to the southern hemisphere.

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It was May 6 when 36 of the players learned they had been chosen to tour, their squad selection getting announced on live TV four days after Gatland had privately called Alun Wyn Jones at his home in Wales to ask him to take over the captaincy from his fellow Welsh forward Sam Warburton, the now-retired back-rower who skippered the Lions on their 2013 and 2017 trips to Australia and New Zealand.

Scrum-half Ali Price told RugbyPass over the weekend about his excitement ahead of the build-up to the trip to South Africa. “We meet up as a squad for the first time on May 25 down in London, that will be the first time we have got together as a squad,” he said on All Access with Jim Hamilton.

Video Spacer

Scotland’s Ali Price on the moment he learned that he was a 2021 Lions pick

Video Spacer

Scotland’s Ali Price on the moment he learned that he was a 2021 Lions pick

“I assume we find out a more detailed plan. There is a training camp in Jersey from June 13. I believe Jersey is pretty much Covid free, the restrictions are a lot easier than what they are in the UK or in Ireland. That will be the first training camp and then from there, we are straight to Edinburgh for the Japan game and off to Johannesburg the next day.

“In terms of the South Africa situation, we will get filled in on that in the next couple of weeks. There has not been much information with regards to how it is going to look over there. I’m not really sure what the state of play is over in South Africa at the moment but I guess I’ll find out.”

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c
cw 8 hours ago
The coaching conundrum part one: Is there a crisis Down Under?

Thanks JW for clarifying your point and totally agree. The ABs are still trying to find their mojo” - that spark of power that binds and defines them. Man the Boks certainly found theirs in Wellington! But I think it cannot be far off for ABs - my comment about two coaches was a bit glib. The key point for me is that they need first a coach or coaches that can unlock that power and for me that starts at getting the set piece right and especially the scrum and second a coach that can simplify the game plans. I am fortified in this view by NBs comment that most of the ABs tries come from the scrum or lineout - this is the structured power game we have been seeing all year. But it cannot work while the scrum is backpeddling. That has to be fixed ASAP if Robertson is going to stick to this formula. I also think it is too late in the cycle to reverse course and revert to a game based on speed and continuity. The second is just as important - keep it simple! Complex movements that require 196 cm 144 kg props to run around like 95kg flankers is never going to work over a sustained period. The 2024 Blues showed what a powerful yet simple formula can do. The 2025 Blues, with Beauden at 10 tried to be more expansive / complicated - and struggled for most of the season.

I also think that the split bench needs to reflect the game they “want” to play not follow some rote formula. For example the ABs impact bench has the biggest front row in the World with two props 195cm / 140 kg plus. But that bulk cannot succeed without the right power based second row (7, 4, 5, 6). That bulk becomes a disadvantage if they don’t have a rock solid base behind them - as both Boks showed at Eden Park and the English in London. Fresh powerful legs need to come on with them - thats why we need a 6-2 bench. And teams with this split can have players focused only on 40 minutes max of super high intensity play. Hence Robertson needs to design his team to accord with these basic physics.



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