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The 20-year Lions Test itch Scotland want scratched next Thursday
We will know for sure next Thursday how huge an impact Scotland players have had on this 2021 Lions tour to South Africa. That is the day when Warren Gatland is due to name his first Test team to play the Springboks on July 24 in Cape Town and with Scotland not having had a Lions Test team starter since Tom Smith in 2001, there is a 20-year itch waiting to be scratched.
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We all sadly know about the peripheral role Scotland have had with the Lions during the professional era. After Smith’s high profile role versus Australia, it’s as if the Scots have become an afterthought when it comes to Test team selection.
Gordon Bulloch was given a blink-and-you-missed cameo off the 2005 bench in the dead rubber final Test versus the All Blacks, Ross Ford likewise in the 2009 dead rubber final Test versus the Springboks, while Richie Gray was the token Scottish selection when he appeared off the bench in the 2013 series-deciding Test versus the Wallabies.
There was no hope of Test selection in 2017 after just two Scots made the original squad and Stuart Hogg was invalided out of the tour following a friendly fire cheekbone-breaking collision with Conor Murray in Christchurch in the tour’s third warm-up game.
However, 2021 appears to be the year when Scotland have finally come of age in the modern-day professional era of the Lions. The eight-strong representation in the Lions squad unveiled on May 6 was the biggest contingent the Scots have had in an initial touring party since nine were named for the 1989 tour to Australia which was captained by Finlay Calder.
Townsend made himself very busy during his week in Lions self-isolation and it should concern the Springboks ahead of the Test series #LionsRugby #LionsSA2021
https://t.co/xoQrCjyPQJ— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) July 16, 2021
They have encouragingly been busy as well since then. For the matches versus Sigma Lions and the Sharks, there were four Scots in each starting XV, while they have five starters in this Saturday’s clash with the Stormers and two more selections on the bench – with the injured Finn Russell the only Scot absent. It’s the fourth start in six matches for Duhan van der Merwe, the third start for Rory Sutherland, Hamish Watson and Ali Price, and the second start for Hogg, the matchday skipper who missed a week of the tour through self-isolation. Meanwhile, Saturday’s replacements Chris Harris and Zander Fagerson have respectively started three and one matches with the sidelined Russell also having had one start prior to his achilles tear.
The challenge now is to turn all this hectic activity into Test team involvement and Gregor Townsend, the Scotland boss who is working as backs/attack coach for Warren Gatland, has been pleased with how his Scottish contingent have featured so far on the Lions tour.
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“I believed they have played very well,” he said ahead of Saturday’s clash with the Stormers in what is the Lions’ final match before the Test series begins. “They have been consistent with their performances. I am here coaching the whole group but I have been delighted with how well the Scots guys have integrated, how they have thrived in this environment and taken their opportunities.
“So many players have taken opportunities that it is going to be a very tough selection and I am sure at the end of it when we get to that 15 and that 23 we will be delighted with who we select and we will know if we pick up injuries or have to change things throughout the Test series we will still have a really strong team, so it’s a credit to all the players in the squad.”
'There was potential head-on-head contact from Jesse Kriel on Chris Harris in a tackle after the ball had gone and an incident involving Sbu Nkosi and Willie le Roux on Anthony Watson' @AndyGoode10 is not happy with Wednesday's officiating #LionsRugbyhttps://t.co/O21TuWZsHH
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) July 17, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
22 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
3 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
2 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
3 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
3 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
14 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
3 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
2 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
4 Go to commentsThe 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.
22 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
22 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 comments