The Lions concerns Gatland will raise at this week's refs meeting
Warren Gatland has outlined he will be speaking to the referees at this week’s pre-Test meeting about the stop-start nature of play in the Lions versus Springboks series ahead of the third-game decider in Cape Town this weekend. French official Mathieu Raynal, a touch judge for the opening two Test matches, will be on the whistle for the series decider and Lions boss Gatland is hoping that his team isn’t put through the wringer in the same frustration fashion that unfolded in their dreary 27-9 defeat last weekend.
According to Opta, the ball in play time for the opening half was just 16 minutes and 28 seconds, a figure reduced to 14 minutes and one second in the second period. The halves, though, took a respective one hour, two minutes and 30 seconds and 53 minutes and 26 seconds to play.
Asked about how long last weekend’s Lions match took to reach its conclusion and how limited the ball in play time was, Gatland said: “There are two things there – one is keeping the ball and also talking to the officials about making sure we keep the game flowing.
“We found every scrum there was an injury slowing the game down, there were something like 14 minutes TMO time in the game and it was really stop-start and that made it frustrating for us. We want to keep the tempo of the game up to get the ball quickly out of scrums and lineouts to play and to get a flow and South Africa at the moment don’t want to do that. Everything is so stop-start that it does make it frustrating.
“I know Alun Wyn Jones was talking to the referee on a number of occasions about keeping the game flowing. We had stud changes, we had TMO reviews, we had the referee stopping the game for cramp. That will be one of the things I will talk to the referees this week when we discuss how we need to make sure that we can’t have 60-odd minute halves. It’s important that we keep the flow of the game from a spectator point of view. We want to see some pretty good rugby and we didn’t see some great rugby played at the weekend.
"They have inadvertently dragged us into it"
– Lions vs Springboks series row takes yet another fresh twist #CastleLionsSeries #LionsTour2021 #LionsRugbyhttps://t.co/heZOgAWrKp
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) August 3, 2021
“It would help if there weren’t players going down for injuries on a regular basis, stopping,” added Gatland, who has named a starting XV containing six changes. “You want that flow in the game and we have seen from other games where we have had tempo that we have played some really good rugby, and it was very frustrating for us and particularly Alun Wyn on the weekend. He was talking to the referee on a number of occasions asking to speed up and you could hear the ref through his mic encouraging both teams to keep the flow of the game going because it was so slow.
“We definitely want some tempo. How long the halves have been, how little minutes in play that we are actually getting, it’s definitely something that is not to our advantage and we need to work on that and make sure we definitely try to keep that tempo up this weekend.”
Why Gatland's Lions XV now very much has a dominant Welsh look, and why it's Finn and not Faz as the reserve out-half #CastleLionsSeries #LionsTour2021 #LionsRugby
https://t.co/6y6Xj8f0jZ— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) August 3, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
James Lowe wouldn't get in any other 6N team. He's a great example of Farrell’s brilliance, and the Irish system. He is slow. His footwork is poor. But he fits perfectly in that Irish system, and has a superb impact. But put him in another team, and he'll look bang average.
3 Go to commentsCrusaders reached their heights through recruitment of North Island players, often leaving those NI teams bereft of key players. Example: Scott Barrett and Sam Whitelock robbed the Canes of their lineout and AB locks. For years the Canes have struggled at lock. This rabid recruitment was iniated by rule changes by a Crusader dominated NZR Head Office. Now this aggressive recruitment has back-fired, going after young inside back Hamilton Boys stars. They now have 4 Chiefs region 10s and not one with the requisite experience at Super level. Problems of their own making!
1 Go to commentsOver rated for a long time…exposed at scrum time too.
3 Go to comments“Firing me” should have been Gatland’s answer.
2 Go to commentsFinn Russell logic: “World” = 4 countries. Ireland may be at or near the top. FR’s bigger concern should be he and his fellow Scots (incl. the Bloemfontein ones) sliding back down to below top 10
42 Go to commentsMind games have begun. Ireland learned their lesson after saying they could beat England with 13 players or whatever. Still, if they win at Loftus, that would be impressive - final frontier etc.
58 Go to comments$950k for a Prop that isn’t fit enough to play 10 mins of rugby? Surely there is someone better to replace Big Mike with
3 Go to commentsFour Kiwis in that backline. A solid statement on the lack of invention, risk-taking and joy in the NH game; game of attrition and head- banging tedium. Longterm medical problems aplenty in the future!
3 Go to commentsGood article, I learnt quite a lot. A big sliding door moment was in the mid 00s when they rejected Steve Anderson's long term transformation and he wrote Ireland's strategy instead.
2 Go to commentsHi Dr Nick! I'm worried that I've started to enjoy watching England and have actually wanted them to win their last two games. What would you prescribe? On a more serious note, I've noticed that the standard of play in March is often better than early February. Do you think this is because of the weather or because the players have been together for longer?
13 Go to commentsMy question in all this brett is who is going to wear the consequences of these actions? Surely just getting the sack isn’t sufficient? A teenager working the till at woolies would probably get taken to court if they took $20 out of the till. You mean to tell me that someone can spend $2.6 million and get away with it? Where was it spent? What companies/people were the beneficiaries etc? How is it just being talked about as an ‘oopsie’ and we all just move on and not a matter of the court for gross negligence, fraud, take your pick…
18 Go to commentslove Manu too but England have relied on him coming back from injury for far too long and not sorted the position with someone else long term . It will be a blessing he has gone . Huge shame he was so injury prone . God speed Manu .
3 Go to commentsI agree with Ben Smith about Brett Cameron. The No. 6 position has to be a monster and a genuine lineout option, like Ollivon, Lawes (now Chessum), Du Toit, etc. The only player who fits that bill right now is Scott Barrett. A fit and fizzing Tuipolotu together with one of the young towers, Sam Darry or Josh Lord, would give Razor the freedom to play Barret at 6.
16 Go to commentsOutstanding article, Graham. Agree with all of it. And enjoy the style of writing too (particularly Grand Slap!).
3 Go to commentsI wouldn't pay a cent for that loafer. He just stands around, waiting for play to come his way. He won't make the Wallabies.
3 Go to commentsGood bit of te reo maori Nic. Or is that Niko or Nikora? On the theme of trees the Oaks v Totara. Game plan would be key. I have one but it would cost you.
13 Go to comments> Shaun Edwards’ You should not have to score 30 points to win a game, as exciting as it is. This statement was surprising to me. It is nonsensical .I guess it is a defence coach speaking. But head coach, defence and attacking coaches all work together. They are inseparable. You score more than the opposition to win. It only needs to be one score. You score whatever the game demands, whatever the opposition demand. You defend whatever it takes. The attack coach needs to be able to clock up 30pts if need be.
13 Go to commentsWho’d have thought, not having Farrell & Youngs kicking the ball at every possible opportunity and playing flat and allowing your centres to run and pass would pay off? No one could possibly have seen this coming. FML. It took a LONG time coming but at least that time has finally come. England need to find a backup to Lawrence. Freeman is the best candidate for me, I see no reason why he can't play 12. He's big, strong, fast and has great hands.
13 Go to commentsLove Manu but he's not the player he was and I imagine Bayonne have paid too much money for him.
3 Go to commentsNew Zealand have not beaten England since 2018 and even that was a pretty close shave.
1 Go to comments