Lions royalty give their verdict on return of Jones to the Lions
Lions royalty Ian McGeechan and Sam Warburton have saluted the incredible comeback by Alun Wyn Jones from a tour-ending shoulder dislocation to getting cleared to fly to South Africa to rejoin the squad in the space of just 18 dramatic days.
Tour skipper Jones was ruled out of the trip to the home of the world champion Springboks when he suffered a shoulder dislocation when cleared out at a ruck at Murrayfield versus Japan on June 26.
Warren Gatland didn’t take long after full-time in Edinburgh last month to confirm that the veteran Wales lock would miss the tour and it was quickly decided to call up fellow countryman Adam Beard as his second row replacement and give the captaincy to Ireland’s Conor Murray.
However, Gatland suggested on July 1 that Jones was targeting a miracle comeback and having been in training with Wales over the past week, he engaged on full contact on Tuesday and was subsequently passed fit to fly to Cape Town on Wednesday to link up with the Lions on Thursday ahead of next Saturday’s final preparation match versus the Stormers, a game Gatland has admitted Jones won’t be considered to play in.
Appearing on Sky Sports’ live TV coverage of Wednesday night’s match versus South Africa A, ex-Lions player and head coach McGeechan and 2013 and 2017 skipper Warburton believed that Jones rejoining the tour was a powerful statement.
BREAKING:
An incredible comeback by the stricken skipper who will fly out to South Africa on Thursday #LionsRugbyhttps://t.co/tKwKGHTjtd
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) July 14, 2021
“A bit statement for confidence,” said McGeechan, the head coach when the Lions tour South Africa in 2009 and 1997 and a player on the 1974 tour. “He [Jones] is their natural leader and it was a blow when he wasn’t there. He has to be 100 per cent fit and involved and get him involved straight away, he will probably be there on Saturday. But from the whole perspective of the tour group, a very, very powerful statement.”
“I’m not surprised about his return in the sense that he is the consummate professional,” added Warburton. “He will have gone above the call of duty to get himself ready. What surprised me was we were travelling home from the game where he got injured and within an hour it was announced he wasn’t going to go on tour.
“I thought it was quite early because normally you would have an MRI scan the next day, the specialist gets back to you and tells you what is the problem so I can only imagine they prematurely ruled him out. He has gone and had an MRI scan back in Wales, they have looked at it and gone he actually hasn’t got the ligament damage that we presumed.
“He is probably on a tight four-to-six-week schedule but given the unusual circumstances let’s try and put him to three weeks. That is how I imagine the conversation went. It’s brilliant news for the Lions, it’s great to have their natural leader back. We do need him.”
"Concussion is obviously an emotive area and there will be many opinions on this and we welcome those…"#LionsRugbyhttps://t.co/ybK8fiV5Mv
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) July 14, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
We’re building a bridge but can't agree where the river is.
2 Go to commentsfirst no arms shoulder or helmet tackle into his rib cage is going to be so very painful even to watch. go back to RU mate.
1 Go to commentsBulls by 5. Plus another 50.
3 Go to commentsJohan Goosen avatar. Cute. Surely someone at RP knows how to do a google image search?
3 Go to commentsCan’t these games play a little earlier? Asking for a friend.
3 Go to commentsIt’s impressive that we can see huge stadiums with attendance in the 40 000 to 50 000 region. It shows how popular this competition is becoming. What is even more impressive is the massive growth in broadcast viewership. The URC is one of the two best leagues in the World, the other being the Top14.
7 Go to commentsChristie is not Sottish, like the majority of the Scotland team.
2 Go to commentsHold the phone, decline over-rated. Is it a one game, dead cat bounce or the real thing? Has the Penney dropped? Stay tuned.
45 Go to commentsTotally deserved win for the Crusaders Far smarter than the Chiefs who seem to be avoiding the basics when it matters Hotham showed them what was missing and Hannah seems a real find - a tad light but that can be fixed over time
8 Go to commentsGreat insight into the performance culture with Sarries and I predict Christie will be a fixture in the Scotland team now for some time to come. However, he is slightly missing his own point around Scotland “being soft” when he cites physicality examples in defence of that slight. The issue is much closer to the example he referenced around feeling off before a game but being told “it doesn’t matter, you can still play well” by Farrell. Until Scotland can get their psyche in that square, they will carry on folding under extreme pressure…
2 Go to comments> We are having to adapt, evolve and innovate more than when we were in Super Rugby where there was only really one style that everybody had to play to gain the most success. Have = able to? Interesting what that one style might be? I thought SA sides still had bad tours now, or at least bad schedule, months away? Those extra few hours flights have to be a killer though, no surprise to see their sides doing so badly at the start of the season each year. I wouldn’t enjoy that unfairness as a supporter.
7 Go to commentsThe problem for NZ, and Aus, is they ripped up the SR model and lost a massive chunk of revenue that hasn’t been replaced. Don’t forget SA clubs went North because they were left with no choice, Argy unceremoniously binned and Japan cast adrift. Now SR wasn’t perfect, far from it, but they’ve jumped into something without an effective plan, so far, to replace what they’ve lost. The biggest revenue potential now lies in Japan but it won’t be easy or quick to unlock, they are incredibly insular in culture as a nation. In the meantime, there is a serious time bomb sitting under SH rugby and if it happens then the current financial challenges will look like a picnic. IF the Boks follow their provincial teams and head north then it’s revenue meltdown. Not guaranteed to happen but the status quo is a very odd hybrid, with the Boks pointing one way and the clubs pointing the other way. And for as long as that remains then the threat is real.
45 Go to commentsI think Etene has had some good tuition, likely while at the Warriors to be a professional that helped his rugby jump, but he was certainly thrown in the deep end way too early. Should have arguably 20 less SR caps, and therefor a way better record that he does at his age, but his development would have been fast tracked by the need to satiate his signing away from league. Again, credit to him and others that he has done it so well. Easy to fall over under that pressure in the big leagues like that but he kept at it when I myself wasn’t sure he was good enough.
1 Go to commentsAwesome story. I wonder what a bigger American (SA) scene might have mean for Brex.
1 Go to comments“Johnny McNicholl and the Crusaders” save a Penney. Who has been in camp this week and showed them how to play?
8 Go to commentsSo, reports of the Crusaders’ demise / terminal decline are perhaps just - slightly - premature/exaggerated…? 🤔 Will we see a deep-dive into that by the estimable Rugbypass scribes, and maybe one or two mea culpas? Thought not.
8 Go to comments1. The Chiefs are rudderless without DMac, which enhances his AB chances 2. Chiefs pack are powderpuffs. The hard men arent there anymore 3. They had their golden title chance last yr and wont threaten this yr. Gone in second round of playoffs.
8 Go to commentsHonestly, why did you have to publish such a foolish article the day they play us? 😂
45 Go to comments> They are not standalone entities. They are linked to an amateur association which holds the FFR licence that allows the professional side to compete in the league. That’s a great rule. This looks like the chicken or egg professional scenario. How long is it going to be before the club can break even (if that is even a thing in French rugby)? If the locals aren’t into well it would be good to se them drop to amateur level (is it that far?). Hope they can reset from this level and be more practical, there will be a time when they can rebuild (if France has there setup right).
1 Go to commentsWhat about changing the ball? To something heavier and more pointed that bounces unpredictably. Not this almost round football used these days.
35 Go to comments