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O'Driscoll tackle controversy gives Umaga the Blues

By Iain Strachan

Heard the one about the Lions, the Kiwis and the elephant in the room?

For Tana Umaga and Brian O’Driscoll, the last 12 years have been intermittently dogged by lingering memories of an unsavoury start to the 2005 British and Irish Lions Test series in New Zealand.

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Less than a minute into the first Test of the eagerly anticipated series between a star-studded travelling party and the best team in the world, Umaga and Kevin Mealamu joined forces to spear-tackle O’Driscoll, leaving the Ireland star on the sidelines for the rest of the trip with a dislocated shoulder.

Despite being in an exclusive group of players to have taken part in four Lions tours, a testament to his longevity in the game and enduring quality, O’Driscoll’s relationship with the prestigious representative team, externally at least, remains closely linked to his status as the victim in that notorious incident. 

Speaking to Omnisport last month, the 38-year-old, who retired in 2014, expressed a fervent desire for the topic to be forgotten when his successors take on the All Blacks in the coming weeks.

“It’s the situation in my rugby career I can’t get away from,” he said.

“I want this tour to pass by so it can be buried and we can kind of move on from it.”

O’Driscoll is not the only one to be haunted by the controversy, with Umaga’s role as joint-perpetrator arguably the northern hemisphere’s defining image of his stalwart international career. 

The 44-year-old is now the coach of the Blues, who will go up against the Lions in a tour game on Wednesday.

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There was no chance his pre-match news conference could pass by without the media attempting to open up those old wounds, leaving a testy Umaga grateful for a careful initial line of enquiry about his general memories regarding the significance of a visit from the Lions.

“I knew we were going to talk about ’05, but that wasn’t the question I was expecting. Thank-you for that,” he said.

“[It was] something very special. But that was back then. It’s a different group now. It’s all about 2017 and the 2017 Blues squad going up against them.”

Questioned directly about whether any hostility is likely to remain among the supporters who are following the Lions in New Zealand, he said: “That’s 12 years ago, and if people can’t put that behind them, then I suppose they never will. 

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“It’s about this group now, their time against the Lions and the memories they make. Hopefully they’re positive ones.”

As the probing continued with a request for his specific memories of the incident, Blues star Sonny Bill Williams interjected on behalf of his coach, saying: “Let’s just leave it alone, mate.”

Umaga added succinctly: “That will be a no.”

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Jon 8 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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j
john 11 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

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