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'SA teams haven't changed the way they play since the age of man'
Maro Itoje sounded convinced that the Lions already know exactly what they will face in their three-game Test series versus the Springboks following Wednesday’s night narrow loss to the South Africa A side in Cape Town. Springboks boss Rassie Erasmus fielded an A team packed with World Cup winners and seasoned Test players and Itoje believes the action that unfolded was brilliant to ensure the Lions are fully primed when the Test series gets underway in Cape Town on July 24.
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“South Africa, there is no real subtlety about how they play,” said Itoje in a post-game TV interview on Sky Sports. “South African teams haven’t changed the way they play since the age of man but they do it very well.
“We learned about the intensity at which they play and for us, we learned about the things that we need to tidy up. This is going to be a brilliant, brilliant lesson for us going forward, the type of thing we needed to see where we are at.”
The England lock outlined what went wrong for the Lions in a first-half that ended with them trailing 3-17 and then what they fixed in the second half of a match that ultimately finished 13-17 with the tourists coming with a whisker at times of taking the lead.
“The first half especially we just gave them a few things a little bit too easy. The Springboks are a very good side and they take advantage of those mistakes but this is brilliant for us. We have been wanting a proper test, this was definitely a proper test and this is going to be immeasurably beneficial for us going forward.
The latest Lions bulletin also covers Watson, Jones and Williams, the trio hurt Wednesday's loss to South Africa A #LionsRugby #CastleLionsSeries #LionsSA2021https://t.co/AFmGpGlqpJ
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) July 15, 2021
“It was pretty much bettering plan A. In the first half, the breakdown wasn’t good enough. There was too many turnovers, too many loose balls and if my memory serves correct we weren’t broken down through phases we were broken down through turnover and taking advantage of those opportunities. We tried to tidy that up and that is a brilliant lesson for us going forward.”
Former Lions out-half Ronan O’Gara, the current La Rochelle boss, was also involved in the Sky Sports coverage. He added: “I thought Itoje’s interview was fascinating, very revealing they are pretty certain what they are going to be facing in terms of the South African team coming at them.
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“If they are smart in attack and if they can keep the ball and get tempo in their game they can cause major problems for South Africa. This (loss) could be a turning point in the tour for them. They are a very different team if you have to chase South Africa as opposed to if you manage to lead against them it becomes a very different game.
“Their game plan isn’t suited to being behind yet if they go ahead, they keep control of the scoreboard and with their aggressive defence and their kicking plan, that is very much suited but if the Lions were to lead it causes all kinds of problems and if they can be brave with the ball the Lions will get a lot of the three Tests.”
"I can't understand the comments were that there was no contact with the head"
– Gatland turns up the heat ahead of planned Friday meeting with the Lions tour referees#LionsRugby #CastleLionsSeries #LionsSA2021https://t.co/QlK148jk7L
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) July 15, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
Je 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
1 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 Crusades , you can keep going.
1 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!😭😭😭 !!!
25 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
25 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.
25 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
25 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
11 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
11 Go to comments