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The Lions produced their most complete performance of the tour to date
Posted 18 hours ago
THE LIONS recorded their fifth victory of the tour with a 47 – 17 win over a depleted, yet competitive, Waratahs team. But whilst the margin of victory was similar to that of the previous four matches, the execution was very different. This was a structured performance, partly due to the improved quality of the opposition, partly due to the fact that this was the last dress rehearsal for the test probables.
Posted 24 hours ago
WILLIAMS IS one of the most exciting talents ever seen on a rugby pitch. He’s the third top try-scorer in Test history behind David Campese and Daisuke Ohata, his superb footwork and speed causing endless problems for defences. At the start of his career his limited size was seen as a flaw, but his talents for dancing around opponents have long been been appreciated by Lions coach Warren Gatland. So he’s now on his third Lions tour – albeit for a brief stint.
Posted 1 day ago
THE SOUTH Africa-born centre’s importance was recently highlighted by his absence. Injured for Saracens’ end-of-season play-offs they missed his defensive solidity in midfield and failed to collect any silverware. He’s been a regular in Stuart Lancaster’s England squad, proving extremely reliable in the centre.
Posted 2 days ago
ONE OF the brightest prospects in English rugby, Wade has won plaudits for his ability to terrorise defences. He’s one of the fastest wingers in the English Premiership and has a brilliant side-step – attributes he showed to great effect for Wasps against Leinster in the Amlin Challenge Cup quarter-final. There are a few question marks over his defence, but he’s a special talent with ball in hand.
Posted 4 days ago
WINNING TESTS is one thing, but to do it with young, exciting players is another. For the second Test against Argentina, Stuart Lancaster has selected an explosive and sprightly backline with Freddie Burns, Marland Yarde, Kyle Eastmond, Jonathan Joseph and Christian Wade all in the mix.
Posted 4 days ago
SOMETIMES THINGS go too far. Like the private joke said aloud too often or the headlines whenever a football team scores six goals, talk of spying, spies and undercover Aussies coming from the Lions tour is grating the nerves already.
Posted 5 days ago
IT’S BEEN quite a year for the centre. His move to Gloucester from Leicester resulted in more game time, an England call-up for the Six Nations and now this Lions involvement, which came less than a week after he scored in England’s 32-3 defeat of Argentina.
Posted 6 days ago
EVEN THE biggest, fiercest, proudest Lions supporter would find it hard to dispute that so far the 2013 tour has been a let-down. Not quite a farce but verging on one. Nearly three weeks in and four matches gone and the sense of anti-climax is overwhelming. Apart from the cracking contest against the Queensland Reds, the Lions haven’t been seriously tested in their other three matches.
Posted 6 days ago
A BEATLES B-side, Helter Skelter was said to be the song that started it all for heavy metal. “When I get to the bottom, I go back to the top of the slide,” the Scouse four-piece screeched. Rock ‘n’ roll indeed. Something, in fact, the Scotland national team can identify with after their recent loss to Samoa during their summer tour of South Africa.
Posted 6 days ago
THE BRITISH and Irish Lions racked up a perfunctory fourth consecutive win with a 64-0, ten try victory, against the Combined NSW-Queensland Country. As expected, and considering that the Country’s team contained nine amateurs, this was and will be the easiest fixture of the tour. In terms of intensity, it made the Western Force fixture feel like the Rugby World Cup final.
Posted 7 days ago
MEDIA BLACKOUT on the tours of North America, South America, Japan and South Africa from the home nations could have been an unfortunate by-product of the Lions stint Down Under. Thankfully, though, there is no repetition of the old adage from Vietnam War veterans: “You don’t know man; you weren’t there!”
Posted 7 days ago
FOUR GAMES, one proper contest, and the Lions bandwagon rolls on. Every player has now been cast into the fray, bar a hamstrung Rob Kearney and jet-lagged Simon Zebo, so it’s time to have a stab at picking Warren Gatland’s Test side for the first Test in Brisbane.
Posted 7 days ago
It was one-way traffic in Newcastle as the Lions ran in ten tries against Combined Country
