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Lions series victory hopes increase with latest venue change update
Warren Gatland believes the Lions will play their entire three-game Test series versus the Springboks at sea level in Cape Town rather than the tour returning to Johannesburg and having the second and third Tests played at altitude which would favour the South Africans. The Lions have spoken about the effects that playing at altitude in the last week have on their lungs and it was set to be an important factor if the tour was to return as planned to Johannesburg.
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However, with the Lions and the Springboks each having had their issues with Covid this week in the more contagious Gauteng region, Gatland expects the Lions to spend the remainder of their tour in Cape Town once they fly there on Sunday following Saturday’s rematch with the Sharks. “I’m not 100 per cent sure but I’m pretty sure that they will be played in Cape Town,” he said about Test matches two and three which are due to be played in Johannesburg on July 31 and August 7.
“That hasn’t been 100 per cent confirmed yet. That is my understanding at the moment and until they give us 100 per cent confirmation we just have to wait and see, but I think they are definitely going to be in Cape Town. Playing the three Tests at sea level is a real positive for us.”
That might not be the only changes to the existing schedule either. There has been no update since Tuesday from the badly hit Springboks camp and Gatland confirmed there were talks that next Wednesday’s Lions match could be against the Stormers, with the planned clash versus South Africa A pushed back to the following Saturday so that the health situation of Jacques Nienaber and his squad has more time to come right.
“No, we are not 100 per cent. It will either be the Springboks or the Stormers so they might switch those games around. That hasn’t been confirmed. Hopefully, in the 24 hours we will know which way those games go.”
TEAM NEWS:
Just 2?? players who started for the Lions on Wednesday will start again this Saturday versus the Sharks…. and the XV includes the last 2?? players of the 37 still awaiting a first tour start #LionsRugby #SHAvBILhttps://t.co/boRs4IlA2a
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) July 9, 2021
In the meantime, the Lions will face the Sharks this Saturday for the second time in four days after the latest round of their testing came back negative, freeing up the unnamed player who tested positive and his contacts for a selection that shows 13 changes to the starting side from the team that won 54-7 on Wednesday. The one curiosity is that the status of the contacts affected by the management member who tested positive on Wednesday has now changed. The Lions said in a statement that day that the staff member’s close contacts were two players and two staff, a description reiterated on Thursday by managing director Ben Calveley.
However, when Saturday’s team was announced on Friday, this had changed to one player and three staff who were isolated along with the staff member that tested positive. “The player has been isolating in his room and has been coming down and having meals on the terrace on their own, the one player and three staff have been doing that,” explained Lions boss Gatland.
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“They have been able to get out of their rooms. They seem in good spirits at the moment. We will hopefully have everyone back on board on Wednesday which would be great… We had everyone else tested today [Friday] and everything came back negative. We’re really pleased with that.
“The case that we had, we are very unsure where that came from. But everyone is being very vigilant in terms of wearing masks and social distancing and trying to stay away and travel on the bus and things. We have been very careful in trying to make sure that we didn’t have any cases so that very weak positive test has come back negative in the last two days, they thought it was possibly a false positive.
“But we have got one case and hopefully the close contacts will be out of isolation soon. Look, I can’t speak more highly of the way that everyone has conducted themselves. The medical team have been absolutely outstanding and the strength and conditioning team.
“They moved into top gear on Wednesday afternoon doing deliveries around to all the players and bags and food and stuff, pre-match meal and making sure everyone was ready. If people needed ice or bath salts or whatever, they were there for them. They worked incredibly hard and took a lot of pressure off the coaches in helping them prepare the team and made it easy for the players.”
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Robbie Henshaw and Stuart Hogg are the two players in the 37-strong squad who haven’t featured in either matchday 23 to face the Sharks. Henshaw pulled up with a minor hamstring strain last week while assistant Steve Tandy reported on Tuesday that Stuart Hogg was carrying a bit of a dead leg. He ultimately was one of the eight players who weren’t able to feature as originally planned versus the Sharks on Wednesday.
“Robbie Henshaw was running today, which was good, and Stuart Hogg is fit as well,” said Gatland. “He [Henshaw] thinks he is ready to go now so he is not too far away, whether it is next Wednesday he gets a run or the next weekend. He is up and running and hopefully he will start doing more stuff over the weekend as well and we will make a decision on Sunday whether he will be back involved Wednesday or next week.”
"Stadiums and events across England are able to operate at full capacity from July 19, 5 days before the first Test is due to take place. I’m not sure what SA Rugby or the Lions are really gaining from persevering with the original plans." https://t.co/yWgEyZ6MPm pic.twitter.com/kUpBRs0IXB
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) July 9, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
The greatest Springbok coach of all time is entirely on the money. Rassie and Jacques have given the south african public a great few years, but the success of the springbok selection policy will need to be judged in light of what comes next. The poor condition that the provincial system is currently in doesn’t bode well for the next few years of international rugby, and the insane 2026 schedule that the Boks have lined up could also really harm both provincial and international consistency.
15 Go to commentsJake White is a brilliant coach and a master in the press. This is another masterclass in media relations and PR but its also a very narrow view with arguments that dont always hold water. White wants his team to win, he wants the best players in SA and wants his team competitive. You however have to face up to the reality of a poor exchange rate and big clubs with big budgets. SA Rugby cant compete and unless it can find more money SA players will keep leaving regardless of Springbok eligibility and this happened in 2015 - 2017. Also rugby is not cricket. Cricket has 3 formats and T20 cricket is where the money is at. When it comes to club vs country the IPL is king but that wont happen because the international calendar does not clash with the club calendar in rugby. So the argument about rugby going down the same path as cricket is really a non-starter
15 Go to commentsNZ rugby seem not to have learnt anything from professional rugby. Super rugby was dying and SA left before they died with the competition. SA rugby did a u turn on their approach to international players playing overseas and such players are now selected for Bok teams. As much as each country would love to retain their players playing in local competitions, this is the way the world is evolving my friends. Move with it or stay 20 years behind the times. One more thing. NZ rugby hierarchy think they are the big cheese. Take a more humble approach guys. You do not seem to have your players best interests at heart.
3 Go to commentsBeaches? In Cardiff? Where?
1 Go to commentsHe is right , the Crusaders will be a threat. Scott Barrett, ( particularly), Fergus Burke , Codie Taylor, ( from sabbatical) etc due back soon for the Crusaders. There are others like Zach Gallagher too. People can right the Crusaders off, Top 8 , here we come !!
1 Go to commentsWe will always struggle for money to match the other sides but the least the WRU can do is invest properly in Welsh rugby. Too much has been squandered on vanity projects like the hotel and roof walk amongst others which will never see a massive return. Hanging the 4 pro sides out to dry over the last decade is now coming back to bite the WRU financially as well as on the pitch. You reap what you sow.
1 Go to commentsWhat do you get if you cross a doctor with a fish? A plastic sturgeon
14 Go to commentsWhat happened to feleti Kaitu’u? Hasnt played in a while right?
1 Go to commentsGregor I just can’t agree with you. You are trying to find something that just isn’t there. Jordie Barrett has signed until 2028. By the end of that he would have spent probably 11-12 years on Super Rugby and you say he can’t possibly have one season playing somewhere else. It is absurd. What about this scenario, the NZR play hard ball and he decides to leave and play overseas. How would that affect the competition. There seems to be an agenda by certain journalists to push certain agendas and don’t like it when it’s not to their liking. I fully support the NZR on this. Gregor needs to get a life.
3 Go to commentsHope he stays as believe he can do a great job.
1 Go to commentsMake what step up? Manie has a World Cup winner’s medal around his neck and changed the way the Springboks can play. He doesn’t have anything to prove to anyone. The win record of the Boks with him in the team is tremendous. Sacha can be wonderful and I hope he has a very succesful Bok career, but comparing him to Manie in terms of the next Bok flyhalf is very strange. Manie is the incumbent (not the next) and doing pretty incredibly.
1 Go to comments00 😍 U
1 Go to commentsSabbaticals have helped keep NZ’s very best talent in the country on long term deals - this fact has been left out of this article. Much like the articles calling to allow overseas players to be selected, yet can only name one player currently not signed to NZR who would be selected for the ABs. And in the entire history of NZ players leaving to play overseas, literally only 4 or 5 have left in their prime as current ABs. (Piatau, Evans, Hayman, Mo’unga,?) Yes Carter got an injury while playing in France 16 years ago, but he also got a tournament ending injury at the 2011 World Cup while taking mid-week practice kicks at goal. Maybe Jordie gets a season-ending injury while playing in Ireland, maybe he gets one next week against the Brumbies. NZR have many shortcomings, but keeping the very best players in the country and/or available for ABs selection is not one of them. Likewise for workload management - players missing 2 games out of 14 is hardly a big deal in the grand scheme of things. Again let’s use some facts - did it stop the Crusaders winning SR so many times consecutively when during any given week they would be missing 2 of their best players? The whole idea of the sabbatical is to reward your best players who are willing to sign very long term deals with some time to do whatever they want. They are not handed out willy-nilly, and at nowhere near the levels that would somehow devalue Super Rugby. In this particular example JB is locked in with NZR for what will probably (hopefully) be the best years of his career, hard to imagine him not sticking around for a couple more after for a Lions tour and one more world cup. He has the potential to become the most capped AB of all time. A much better outcome than him leaving NZ for a minimum of 3 years at the age of 27, unlikely to ever play for the ABs again, which would be the likely alternative.
3 Go to commentsJake White talks more sense than anything I've read in the last 5 years. Hope someone's listening.
15 Go to commentsThe Springboks tried going down the road of only picking home-based players and it was an unmitigated disaster in 2016 and 2017. Picking overseas-based players has been one of the main reason the Boks have done so well since 2018, not only because of the quality Rassie could call on, but because of the knowledge and experience those players brought into camp from England, France and Japan. With some of the big names playing abroad it also gave younger players in SA the chance to break through at franchise level. Would we have seen the emergence of a Ruan Nortje if RG and Lood were still at the Bulls? Not so sure. I understand why Jake would want to block players leaving since his job depends on good results but it’s an approach that would take Bok rugby back to the bad old days and no South African wants to see that.
15 Go to commentsExeter were thumped by 38 points. And they only had to hop on a train.
39 Go to commentsI am De Groot.
1 Go to commentsHad hoped you might write an article on this game, Nick. It’s a good one. Things have not gone as smoothly for ROG since beating Leinster last year at the Aviva in the CC final. LAR had the Top 14 Final won till Raymond Rhule missed a simple tackle on the excellent Ntamack, and Toulouse reaped the rewards of just staying in the fight till the death. Then the disruption of the RWC this season. LAR have not handled that well, but they were not alone, and we saw Pau heading the Top 14 table at one stage early season. I would think one of the reasons for the poor showing would have to be that the younger players coming through, and the more mature amongst the group outside the top 25/30, are not as strong as would be hoped for. I note that Romain Sazy retired at the end of last season. He had been with LAR since 2010, and was thus one of their foundation players when they were promoted to Top 14. Records show he ended up with 336 games played with LAR. That is some experience, some rock in the team. He has been replaced for the most part by Ultan Dillane. At 30, Dillane is not young, but given the chances, he may be a fair enough replacement for Sazy. But that won’be for more than a few years. I honestly know little of the pathways into the LAR setup from within France. I did read somewhere a couple of years ago that on the way up to Top 14, the club very successfully picked up players from the academies of other French teams who were not offered places by those teams. These guys were often great signings…can’t find the article right now, so can’t name any….but the Tadgh Beirne type players. So all in all, it will be interesting to see where the replacements for all the older players come from. Only Lleyd’s and Rhule from SA currently, both backs. So maybe a few SA forwards ?? By contrast, Leinster have a pretty clear line of good players coming through in the majority of positions. Props maybe a weak spot ? And they are very fleet footed and shrewd in appointing very good coaches. Or maybe it is also true that very good coaches do very well in the Leinster setup. So, Nick, I would fully concurr that “On the evidence of Saturday’s semi-final between the two clubs, the rebuild in the Bay of Biscay is going to take longer than it is on the east coast of Ireland”
11 Go to commentsWhat was the excuse for the other knockout blowouts then? Does the result not prove the Saints were just so much better? Wise call to put your eggs in one basket when you’ve got 2 comps simultaneously finishing.
39 Go to commentsReally hope Kuruvoli and his partner rock the Canes.
1 Go to comments